Aspen
by Deji and then some
Summary: I'm an Eraser but I'm...different.Whitecoats consider me a mistake,and the Erasers all hate me.Except Reuben.But he doesn't count.I FINALLY get to go and hunt down runaway experiments and leave the Institute,and everything goes wrong. PART 2 IS UP!
1. Chapter one: Moi

Okay… so, um… I wrote this one on my own. ( that's me, as in Deji. And without Goober.) This is sort of a prequel to the one that Goober and I are writing together. This is all made up of my (and Goober's) ideas, except for the whole basic Institute/ mutant bird kid/ crazy whitecoat/ Eraser/ etcetera. Those are all (you guessed it!) James Patterson's. Not ours. We just came up with the idea to use them.

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Chapter one: Moi

I woke up to a nasally buzzing noise, signaling that it was now 4:30 am, and sleeping in would not be rewarded. I hated that noise. It hurt my ears. Grumbling, I rolled off my hard bunk to file out into the cold hallway with everyone else. I hated them. I knew that they hated me, too. They didn't exactly try to keep it a secret. We lined up in the hallway, single file along one of the walls, in order for roll call. A whitecoat came out with a clipboard. Cliché. He read out "names," and deep, gruff voices responded quickly. I hated the whitecoats. All of them. I hated being the only girl. "70921ASP," demanded the whitecoat. "Present." I hated being a number. Sometimes I was called Aspen, if anyone bothered to talk to me. They never did. I hated watching them all play cards and talk jokingly from the edges of the room. I hated everything.

Roll call was over. The Erasers filed into a mess hall-type thing. Printed over the doorway, like on all of the rooms, were the words "The Institute of Higher Living." We got our food and sat at a table. I sat at the end, away from the other Erasers.

Well, to say "the other Erasers" isn't exactly accurate. Because I'm not exactly an Eraser. I was (surprise!) an experiment. They wanted to see if they could make a better Eraser. The originals were too slow and uncoordinated. I had to agree with them on that point. They wanted to make something faster, more agile. So instead of infusing me with the usual wolf DNA before birth, they tried fox. With some avian DNA sprinkled on for effect. So now I had 13-foot wings, and turned into a reddish-brown, more slender version of Hollywood's wolfman whenever I felt the slightest inclination to do so.

Obvious from the fact I was still living, their experiment had succeeded. Just barely. There were a couple things that they weren't happy with about me. First, I was a girl. I guess that scientifically, females were weaker and more compassionate than males. Supposedly. Not very Erasery attributes, to tell the truth. I was also smarter. This could be due to the previous glitch, but none of them considered that, of course. It must have been a lot easier to boss around a bunch of beastly morons (Erasers), than someone with an IQ higher than that of moldy hot dogs.

There was this other thing that I didn't plan on letting them find out about. I could tell when someone was lying. It was more than just some talent I'd picked up. I could just _tell_. I knew that if they ever found out about that, they probably wouldn't keep me. Alive.

So, I was valuable enough to keep alive, but I had too many flaws to duplicate me.

And that was why I sat alone, playing with my…food. (For lack of a better word.) That was why I sat at the end of the table every day, hating the world that I was forced to face completely alone.


	2. Chapter two: Recruiting Meeting

Disclaimer thingy- Okay, I did this at the beginning of ch. 1, so do I really need to do it again? Nothing has changed since then. James Patterson owns Maximum Ride. I don't. I own Aspen, and this story and its other characters. Blah, blah, blah.

-Deji

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Chapter 2: Recruiting Meeting

Another annoying buzzing noise rang through the mess hall. For fifteen years, my life had been completely controlled by that noise. It told me- us- when to eat, when to sleep, when to wake up, and when to go to the training field. It never, of course, told us when to just hang out. We weren't supposed to do that. We had to stay busy. Sometimes the Erasers would talk and play cards before going to sleep (or when we were supposed to clean our quarters), but that didn't apply to me. Duh. Half of the things they did didn't apply to me.

For example, the Erasers would get sent out to track down runaway experiments by the time they were only five. I'd never been out of the Institute. I hated it in here. Maybe things were better outside. Maybe they weren't. I would have run away a long time ago, if it weren't for a few things.

I'd been trained all my life on what happens to experiments who run away. That was certainly NOT something I wanted to experience. I didn't like the idea of facing a whole group of Erasers on my own. I could probably take down a small group, but then they'd send a bigger group after me, and they'd bring me back. They'd consider me a traitor for fighting them off, and then they'd punish me.

Not in the same way that sleeping in was punished. And that was horrible enough. (Cleaning the Erasers' bathroom was not an experience I was looking to repeat.) Traitors were weakened by smaller portions of food, then used to teach newer Erasers how to fight without killing. New Erasers had a difficult time restraining themselves.

The buzzer repeated itself, reminding me that if I weren't at the training area in a few minutes, I'd be experiencing the bathrooms again. I hastily began trekking to the big gymnasium-type building. I joined the group of Erasers in the center of the room, groaning inwardly. If it had been a normal training day, we would have checked the chart on the far wall and growl about having to be in the same training group as (insert Eraser's name here). But today wasn't a normal training day.

The day before, a pair of experiments had escaped. Both were the mutant bird kid kind of experiments. They were about, 14, 15 years old. The classic type of runaway. They rarely lasted a few days. Of course, there were rumors of a big group that had lasted a long time on their own. Last time I heard, there were supposed to be six of them. Led by a _girl_.I wasn't going to fall for that load of crap. Pardon my French.

So today was supposed to be a recruiting day. They were going to pick out who was going to go and find the runaways. I wanted to just go and climb back into bed. I wanted so badly to see what the world looked like outside of the Institute. No. Shut up, Aspen. You're not allowed to think those things. You'll just start hoping that you get picked. And you won't. Because you're not an Eraser. Because you're a girl.

An old balding whitecoat walked into the room. He pushed a button on the wall, and a projection screen slid out. He pushed another button, and two pictures illuminated on the screen. "You should all know by now that two avian experiments ran away last night," he informed us. "They are between 14 and 16 years old, and have never run away before." I silently smiled. I always found it funny how they told the ages of runaways. "The female runaway," he continued, "is about 5" 1' tall, and has short black hair." He indicated the picture on the left. "Both experiments have a wingspan of about 13" 6', as with most avian experiments. The male runaway," he indicated the second picture, "is 5" 4', with light-colored hair." The whitecoat pushed a button, and the screen receded into the wall.

"These experiments will be fairly easy to capture, and are inexperienced in how to fight off enemies. The following of you will be sent off to capture them." He pulled out a clipboard, and started reading off names. They didn't use numbers when picking out who was going to get runaways. They wanted to make the Erasers feel important, I guess. I wasn't paying much attention. There was no reason to… for me at least. I noticed idly that Reuben had been picked to go. I hated him most, out of all of the Erasers. Ironic, I guess, considering that he was the only one that liked me.

He liked me a little too much, in fact. He'd been hitting on me since we'd been put in the same barrack, 3 years ago. I'd been dropping hints for the last 2 years and 364 days that I hated his guts. He didn't seem to get it.

"Aspen!" I jumped, remembering that that was my name. The whitecoat was glaring at me, peeved that I hadn't been paying attention. "Yes?" I asked, embarrassed that he had reprimanded me in front of everyone. "Get over here, before I ask someone else to take your spot in the capture party." He was SO pissed off. "Yes, sir." I walked over to the small group, trying to hide my surprise. I had been attending these recruiting meetings for 10 years, and had never been called on one.

I was so excited, that I wasn't even aware that I was in a group with Reuben for an extended period of time. Until he came up and put his arm around me. Oh, well. Of course there was going to be a catch. I gave a warning growl and he backed off. I could tell that he wasn't planning on keeping that gap between us, so I walked to the other side of the group, hoping he would take the hint. Not much of a chance of that, but I could hope, right?

The whitecoat called a few more names, and then turned to our small group. I could tell by the discoloration in his face that he was still really pissed off at me. He gave us some little gadgets, explaining which ones were tranquilizers, weapons, and communication devices. He told us that we were to try to tranquilize the mutants, then call in for transportation so that we wouldn't have to carry them the whole way. The weapons weren't to be used unless absolutely necessary. We were to leave early tomorrow morning, so we should go and get ready. Which meant we were leaving really late tonight, so we should get some sleep.

I hurried to my barracks, Reuben trying to catch up with me. I was so excited. I was going to actually see the world beyond all of these stone walls and doors. I was going to fly in open air. I was going to feel the sun on my face. But first, I was going to bed.


	3. Chapter three: Preparations

Alright, I'm sorry… apparently I've been preventing someone from continuing their normal life due to my lack of writing this chapter. I've been visiting my cousins and stuff, so I haven't been able to write anything. PLEASE review! If it sucks, I want to know! If it doesn't, still tell me how I can make it better anyway! I can't make it better if I don't know how to!

So, disclaimer thingy Maximum Ride is not mine. It's James Patterson's. Aspen/ Reuben/ pretty much all the characters in this are mine/Goober's. The end of disclaimer thingy.

Chapter 2: Preparations

We were woken up early (as in, 2:00 am early) by whitecoats prodding us. It was so weird, waking up without the buzzy noises. I realized with a start that I wouldn't hear any more of that noise until we got back… and that could be weeks from now. I'd be living without everything I'd known all my life… My brain kind of froze after that.

I walked to the place where I could see the group of Erasers gathering. The various glares of utter hatred I'd grown so used to didn't pull me out of my zombie-like trance. Reuben's overly eager beckoning did that. I started feeling really ticked. He tended to create that kind of reaction in me. A lot. I quickly, and none too subtly, turned on my heel and stalked to the opposite side of the growing group of Erasers. Wow. They sure were getting a lot of Erasers to catch just two runaways. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as they said it was going to be.

A couple of whitecoats came into the room holding (drum roll, please) clipboards. I was beginning to wonder if those things had been surgically attached to _them_ before birth. I chuckled at my joke, earning myself a couple of Erasery glares. I ignored them.

"There will be three different parties searching for the experiments," announced a lanky redheaded whitecoat. "Each will go a different direction, thearching thouroughly ath they go." I stifled another giggle as the whitecoat lisped on. "We will appoint two leaderth over each group."

The pair of whitecoats proceeded to divide us into three groups of 10. My face contorted oddly as I stifled a giggle and groan inwardly simultaneously as "Athpen" was put in the same group as Reuben. The non-lispy whitecoat gave me a look that clearly showed her doubt that I was mentally capable of tracking down anything smarter than a rusty doorknob. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her.

After dividing the groups, they went to each group, appointing two leaders. I turned and faced the two lower life forms from whom I was to take orders. One was huge and beastly, and the other one was…Reuben. Ew. One of them had an expression of utmost loathing, and the other's face radiated joy from the prospect of being within seeing distance for an extended period of time. Both made me want to crawl into a dark place and die. Really soon.

This was going to be horrible.


	4. Chapter four: Weird

Disclaimer: These are so monotonous. Maximum Ride, etc. Is James Patterson's. Aspen, the plot and characters in this story, etc, they're mine and Goober's. So no stealing. Or I'll hunt you down and gouge out your eyes with a spork. Muahahahaha! Just kidding… or am I? Dun, dun, DUN!

Chapter four: Weird

This was so awesome!

Of course, I'd flown before, but never like this! There were miles and miles of open sky… well, I guess it just goes on forever, doesn't it? The thought baffled me. I'd always lived in a totally enclosed dungeon-like underground building, and now it was so bright and warm and… open. The wind in my face blew my short reddish hair around, as if it had a mind of its own. The sun warmed my wings and shoulders. It was the most wonderful thing I'd ever experienced.

I laughed right out loud, soaring above the nine Erasers I'd been grouped with. They all looked at me in shock, mirroring the look on my own face. That sound was so unreal. It sounded different from the dark chuckles I'd often shared with myself at others' expense. It was brighter and louder and… happy. I was happy. I laughed again, just for the heck of it. I flew ahead of the pack, spiraling and smiling.

For once, I was glad to be different from the rest of them. In the air, I definitely had the upper hand. Their heavier bodies slowed them down and made it harder for them to maneuver. They were so awkward-looking! I could tell from the look on their faces that they felt really uncomfortable up here. I laughed again. This was so perfect. Up here, I didn't feel so useless and alone. It didn't make any sense.

Whatever. Thinking about it too much would probably make the strange new feelings go away. I liked feeling happy. I laughed again, just to enjoy the natural high. This totally kicked flying around the training field's butt.

A deep gravelly voice crackled in my earpiece. Crap. We had to wear these now, so that our leaders could tell us what to do if we're too far away to yell at. I guess this guy didn't get the whole idea of not needing to yell anymore. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!" yelled the furious Eraser. I know that someone told me his name at one point, but I couldn't remember it. "Just flying, sir." Eew. I hated calling him 'sir.' I'd much rather have used something like 'stupid flying ball of slobbery filth.' But I had a feeling that he probably wouldn't appreciate that very much.

"GET BACK OVER HERE, IN FORMATION!!!!" Without even looking back, I could see his fury. It made me want to chuckle. "Yes, sir," I said, turning back to rejoin the group. "Where do you want me to go, sir?" "You obviously need to be more carefully watched. Go and fly just to the right of your other captain." I stifled a groan. Reuben grinned widely as I flew over to where he was flying. I would just ignore him. Because that _always _works.

"So, Aspen," Reuben said conversationally, "what were you really doing up there? You were acting really weird." Ugh. Now I had to answer him because he was my _superior_. "I was flying." That was the truth, right? Not that I really cared if I was lying. It just seemed more fair if I told the truth. Because he couldn't very well lie to me. No one really could. They didn't know that of course.

"Yeah, but so was I. Why were you acting so…" his vocabulary failed him, so he settled for giving me a weird look. "I felt like it." That was true, too. And was a nice and short reply. Perfect.

"Whatever. It doesn't mean anything to me." That statement reeked of lies. Of course it mattered to him. He took notice of every time I did anything more exciting than sneeze. I wished I was a legal citizen, so I could get a restraining order. He was so creepy.

The silence stretched on, and I reveled in it. I'm sure he felt awkward. So naturally, he went to break it. "So, Aspen," he said again. He really needed to come up with some new conversation starters. "I was wondering… if you would…" Crap. He was asking me out or something. Icky, icky, icky. My earpiece crackled to life again, and I sighed in relief.

"HEAD DOWN. WE ARE LANDING FOR THE NIGHT." Yelling again. I hadn't noticed that it was getting kind of dark. I went into a steep dive, pulling just ahead of Reuben, but still in formation. I could feel disappointment rolling off of him in waves. Earlier, I would have felt guilty. But now… just relieved. Call me a jerk if you want, but you would probably do the same thing after several years, too.

I backpedaled, slowing down for my landing. The erasers didn't understand that concept, either. I tried not to smile as I watched them crash-land into the clearing. They glared at me, thinking I was just showing off. Nope. Just trying not to crush my skull into the earth.

Reuben started walking towards me, with a look on his face that made it clear that he wasn't giving up on our previous "conversation." I hurried to my other officer to see if I could help set up camp. And avoid Reuben. Mostly the latter.

I lined up with the other seven non-leader Erasers, waiting for orders. Just like in the Institute, but without the whitecoats and clipboards. Reuben, still looking dejected, stood with the other leader, dwarfed by him.

Reuben wasn't small for an Eraser, but the other one was beastly. He was HUGE. Like me, I think he was made in an effort for a better Eraser. But unlike me, he was considered a success. So there were several other huge Erasers towering over the rest of us. Twice as big, and nearly half the intelligence. Not someone you want to offend. Unless you used really big words.

Reuben and Mr. Beastliness started going down the line, giving the Erasers different jobs. I heard a collective sigh of relief from the remaining Erasers (and myself), when the job of digging latrines was given to one of the bigger Erasers. They continued down the line, telling Erasers to do different jobs, from setting up tents, to preparing dinner.

As a girl, I was naturally more eligible to the cooking detail. The fact I'd never so much as looked at any kind of recipe or mixing bowl, didn't make any kind of difference. I sighed. Soon everyone was going to hate me more than before. And that was saying something.

Several minutes later, I was sitting by a campfire, prodding a shapeless lump floating in the pot of hot water. It was supposed to be some kind of oatmeal thing. It looked poisonous. I cheered slightly at the thought of Reuben getting some kind of food poisoning and blaming me for it.

Immediately, I heard footsteps behind me. Ugh. Speak of the devil…

"Hey," he said cheerfully. "What's for dinner?" He paused, appraising my work. I smiled to myself, observing his attempt to keep his face cheerful. "Mmm. Looks great." I didn't need my special talent to see right through his lie. Nobody would. Now I was the one struggling not to show my emotions. If he saw me smiling in his presence, I would never get rid of him.

"Anyway, I was just wondering…" Oh, crap. He was doing it again. And I had no escape this time. "Are you eating dinner with anyone tonight?" I couldn't lie my way out of this one. "Um, not really. I prefer to eat alone." "Oh. Would you eat with me tonight?" I sighed inwardly. "Sure, I guess."

Reuben beamed. He was so delusional. "Great! I'll meet you in my tent tonight." He walked away with a bounce in his step. You have no idea how weird that is in an Eraser.

I looked down at the 'oatmeal,' willing it to eat me alive.

_So what do you think? I'm not posting again until I get five new people to reply. Mauhahaha! Tell me how to make it better! -Deji_


	5. Chapter five: Options

So, um, I'm REALLY sorry that this took so long. I've had finals and rehearsals for this play I'm in. (Yay!) But I've been working on it ever since I got that fifth review. Thank you all so much, reviewers! Keep them coming! Tell me how to make it better! That was a lot of exclamation marks! Haha.

Disclaimer- I'll give you three guesses. Here's a hint- Maximum. Ride. Is. Not. Mine. (Did you guess it?) Everything in this story that isn't Maximum Ride is mine. Don't steal. It's RUDE!

-Deji

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Chapter five: Options

Hiding probably wouldn't work. Reuben could track me down so easily that it was creepy. Pretty much everything he did was creepy, come to think about it. I looked down at the pathetic excuse for cooking in my pot. It was a sad thing when you wished for the food that they gave you back at the Institute. Of course, the Institute food looked almost edible, in contrast to what I'd tried to cook. Who knew that it was so HARD? I didn't even know what I did wrong.

I contemplated hiding again. I was sure that the Erasers wouldn't be happy with the "food" that I was serving. And when Erasers get unhappy… well I guess you should know the result.

_Yes, hiding is the best idea at this point_, I decided, looking into the pot and deciding to give up. I pulled it off of the fire, setting it to the side so that it wouldn't explode or something. I put a lid on it, to protect the wildlife. It was one thing to kill off Erasers with it, but I wasn't about to damage the ecosystem like that.

With the weapon of mass destruction securely covered, I contemplated a good hiding place. My tent was too obvious. Somebody _else's_ tent was too dangerous, should they find me in there. Hmmm…

A bird flew past me into the surrounding forest. I realized it would be nearly impossible to find the tree that the bird chose to sit in, even if it wasn't trying to hide. If it was trying to hide…

I glanced around, making sure there wasn't anyone nearby. All of the Erasers were at the bonfire, probably retelling some extremely unbelievable story of their own heroics. I slipped into the forest, letting myself get swallowed by the trees. I went in deep enough that I could no longer hear their harsh laughter and shouting.

Despite the absence of their noise, it wasn't completely silent. There were rustlings in the greenery from the small animals going about their business. The birds chirped… no they didn't. Did they sing? No. None of the clichés really fit. They just… I didn't know how to put it. They whischirpsang. No real words really fit how they sounded.

I guess it was kind of dark in there, but I didn't notice. It wasn't a menacing darkness, like in all of the forests in the movies. It was an incomplete, welcoming darkness. Patches of gold sunlight rested on the dead leaves on the ground, illuminating tiny yellow flowers. The rough bark of the evergreen trees seemed to make them look older and friendlier than the trees in the movies, too. Man, Hollywood just messed everything up.

The smell was the most amazing part. After living in the Institute for 15 years, anything that didn't smell antiseptic-y smelled wonderful. But it was better beyond that point. It was a strong, heavy scent. Pine sap and flowers and dirt mingled together, but were still distinguishable from each other. I never thought that dirt would have a particular odor, let alone such a warm and pleasant one.

I shook myself awake. I wasn't on a nature walk. I was trying to hide. I looked around at the nearby trees. There was a particularly tall one with close-together branches. Perfect. Except I couldn't fly up into it.

As I thought about it, that was exactly what I needed. The Erasers would expect me to fly into the tree… not climb. This was going to be rather difficult. I walked up to the tree apprehensively. How high would I have to go?

Oh, well. I'd think about that once I was in the tree. I looked up into the branches, trying to decide on the best route. I reached for the nearest branch and pulled on it. It snapped.

"Crap." The closest sturdy-looking branch was too far to reach, and too close to the wimpy branches to fly to. I jumped a few times, always coming up short. I tried pulling myself up to it using the wimpy branches, which snapped in turn, leaving behind menacingly pointy-looking stumps.

"Hey, Aspen," called a far too familiar voice. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Hi, Reuben. I didn't expect to see you in here." More like didn't want to. To put it lightly. "I've just been…um, collecting wood for the fire." Yeah, that would explain the branches torn off the tree.

He looked at me really weird. "We already have a woodpile. And why didn't you grab the stuff that's already on the ground? And why did you come this deep into the forest?" He noticed my bleeding hands and raised his eyebrows.

Crap. I didn't have an answer ready for that. Maybe I could give a smidgeon of truth. "I just wanted to take a walk. Cooking was frustrating." I started picking up the splintered pieces of tree. I stifled a shudder when I found a hairy hand on mine.

I looked up at him, regretting it immediately. He was just inches from the end of my nose. "Those won't burn very well. They're still green." Ew, his breath stunk SO bad. I dropped the branches and stood up, backing away slightly, trying not to offend him. Not that I didn't want to hurt his feelings. He just was my commander or whatever, so if I pissed him off I'd be digging the latrines tomorrow. And the next day.

"Come on, it's time to eat," he said eagerly, grabbing my hand. "I can't wait to taste that… food," he finished lamely. He was SO lying. I could tell. I chuckled, realizing that he was a little less eager than before. He was going to be all careful not to offend me, I could tell. As if I thought it looked any better than he did.

He dragged me to his tent by the hand. I noticed that the "oatmeal" was already in the cheap plastic bowls. That meant that there was probably an angry mob of Erasers waiting outside. Fun stuff. That put running away off of my list of two options. And left only staying.

I was SO looking forward to this.

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Like it? I'll try to be quicker this time to put up chapter six! REVIEW PLEASE!!-Deji


	6. Chapter six: Fun Stuff

Um… sorry that this took me forever and a half to get up. I have been WAY busy-ful lately with school and rehearsals for the play I'm in. (And piano, I guess, but I don't even have time to do that!) I've been working on this off and on for about a week... Just don't expect anything more too soon… Like I said, WAY busy-ful.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Please keep the reviews coming! I'm always looking for ideas and stuff. Let me know if you see any ways I can improve!

-Deji

PS- I guess I have to do that disclaimer stuff, huh? OK, so I'm not James Patterson. I am Deji. James Patterson made Maximum Ride. Deji didn't. Deji DID make Aspen, and all the characters thereof. And YOU didn't. So don't say that you did. Because that's lying. And I just might have to hunt you down and eat you. …I'm totally serious. Except the eating part. You would probably taste yucky. XP

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Chapter Six: Fun Stuff

I poked the contents of my bowl. It vaguely resembled the blue Jell-O that we got every Tuesday in the Institute. Except lumpy. And slimier. The 'oatmeal' wiggled enticingly. I was hungry... but not stupid. Reuben, on the other hand was chewing carefully. His face was somewhere between a grimace and (his attempt at) a politely interested smile. On a normal face it would have been funny. On an Eraser's, it was just disturbing. I wasn't sure what made me lose my appetite more, the food itself, or with whom I was supposed to be eating. I shuddered slightly.

"Hey, are you okay?" Reuben asked, after choking down a mouthful of my cooking. He must have seen me shiver. "No, I'm fine. Just not very hungry." An evil thought popped into my head. He wouldn't say no... he did everything in his power not to offend me. If I had to sit in here, why not enjoy it a little? "Do you want to eat mine? I don't want it." I smiled inwardly as panic ran across his face. With an expression of intense suffering, he accepted my offer, trying to hide behind a toothy grin. "Sure." He reached across the folding table and took the bowl. The oatmeal wiggled innocently as he pulled it across the table.

After several failed attempts at conversation, Reuben decided to stick with pretending he wasn't gagging. I sat and watched him, trying just as hard not to smile. I was shocked when he sat up and stacked the empty bowls. I hadn't expected him to finish eating. At least, not without throwing up. Or dying.

"That was... fantastic." He sounded like he was in pain. I stifled another smile. I didn't even need my abilities in order to see right through THAT lie.

Reuben looked strangely pale. That was saying something- you usually can't tell with Erasers. They... we... tended to walk around in our hairier form most of the time. I guess they like to feel all strong and powerful like that. I just prefer not to get beat up for doing things differently. I'm just weird like that.

Reuben's face contorted, and he stood up. "I'll... I'll be right..." He gagged again, and ran right out of the tent. To the latrines, I'm sure.

I sat alone in the tent for a couple of minutes, grinning widely. His expression was SO funny. After about ten-ish minutes I guessed he was going to be a while. Why was I waiting in here for him anyway?

I looked out the tent flap. Erasers were everywhere, with varying degrees of disgust, anger, and horror painted on their faces. I chuckled apprehensively. They would probably NOT be happy to see me. Oh, well. Better to get chewed to bits by a campful of angry Erasers than to sit and eat dinner with an amorous one.

I stepped out through the flap, preparing to run for my life. A take-off wouldn't work if I had an Eraser tearing my limbs off.

I ran toward the forest, with Erasers jumping up to give chase. Several just fell over again, too sick from my culinary skills. How was I going to lose these bozos?

I zig-zagged through the forest, Erasers crushing the underbrush behind me angrily. I stopped dead. They had surrounded me.

"So, how was dinner?" I asked coolly. They started to advance on me. I looked up. There was just enough room to take off if I was careful...

Something flew overhead, through the patch of blue I was aiming for. Another one followed. I gasped. They were too big and awkward for birds. I pointed upward. "Runaway experiments!"

I took off in pursuit, Erasers filing in behind me. We weren't supposed to kid around about this- they knew I was serious. I caught sight of them again. They were flying in the opposite direction of camp. I poured on the speed. Thanks to my non-Eraser DNA, I could fly just as fast as they could.

"Aspen!" It was one of the Erasers. "Yeah?" "We need to tell Reuben and Julius that we found them. We can't just go in and attack without them, you idiot!" I snickered. So that was the beastly guy's name? _Julius?_ I pushed the button on my earpiece, not slowing down or changing direction. "Hey, I found the experiments. What do you want us to do?" It was Reuben who answered. "I was wondering where you went. Umm... you should..." Julius interrupted."Wait where you are. We will come with everyone still in camp immediately." A disgusting noise came from Reuben's end. "I'm not feeling so g-... I'll stay here and watch the camp." I smiled, careul not to laugh loud enough for the earpiece to pick it up. I'd forgotten that he'd had two whole servings... most of the Erasers hadn't even finished one.

I called out to the Erasers behind me. "We're supposed to land and wait for Julius and everyone else." They immediately started the descent, glowering at the fact that they couldn't chase me down anymore. Others were grinning from hairy ear to ear, probably imagining tearing those experiments to bits. I followed them downward to the outskirts of the forest. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to fight the runaways. Was it really so bad to want to get away? It didn't sound half bad to me... except the whole idea of getting caught, of course.

But tearing up runaways beat _getting_ torn up by Erasers any day.

In _my_ opinion.

...Call me crazy.


	7. Chapter seven: Instinct

Hey, um... I just realized that I've never read a Maximum Ride fanfic that didn't have any characters from the books in it. Just a forewarning- they won't be in here. I don't like writing about characters that someone else made. I would be too paranoid about getting them wrong. And I like making my own characters, anyway. So I'm only using OC's... is that OK? Or is there some unwritten rule saying that fanfictions must contain characters from the book? Not like I'd change anything if that were the case. Just curious.

I was also wondering if there were any other Eraser-starring fanfictions that I could read and compare my story to. I was just wondering if I was just so weird that I was not only the only person to write a purely OC fanfic, but also the only one about an Eraser. I'm seriously questioning my own sanity now. Not that I thought I was un-loopy before, but anyway.

Disclaimer blah blah blah. James Patterson invented Erasers, whitecoats, and bird kids.

Claimer: _I_ invented ALL of the characters on here. (With Goober's help!) So DON'T STEAL!! Because **IMA EAT CHOO!** if you do! MUAH HA HA HA!! JK... or am I?

-Deji

PS- Teehee I figured out that "horizontal line" thingy!

* * *

Chapter seven: Instinct

Waiting patiently for Julius to show up was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Even though I wasn't sure if I actually _wanted_ to attack the mutants, every cell of my being was screaming to take off and chase after them. Probably some instinct. It looked a hundred times worse for the Erasers. They were pacing and growling to themselves and each other, some sitting down glaring menacingly at the sky, where the bird kids had disappeared from view.

I heard a noisy flapping sound behind me, coming from over the trees. I turned to see about five or six Erasers awkwardly landing in the clearing, led by the hulking mass of flesh and fur that was Julius. The waiting Erasers and I gathered around him, anxious for him to give the order to track down the prey- or target, whatever you prefer.

Julius straightened up from his awkward landing. Landing in groups was always difficult. You didn't want to get your wings tangled. That would HURT. Standing up straight among all of the normal-sized Erasers, (and little tiny me,) Julius looked huge. His flat black eyes stared out from his hairy face like poisonous beetles; they wanted to kill you. Or me. I had probably woken him up from a nap.

Or maybe it was my "cooking" again. I swear, they were never going to let that go, were they? I mean, it's not like I killed anyone. ... Did I?

I started worrying about the idea of having killed someone with my pathetic attempt at... whatever that was. I counted the Erasers present. ...Nine. Nine?! There had been ten in the group! Panicked, I counted again. Still nine! Oh, crap! I had KILLED an Eraser!! Sure, I was making the world a better place, but... I'd KILLED SOMEONE!! I was a MURDERER! Unintentional, but that didn't change the fact that there was a lifeless body lying in camp, or in the forest somewhere, and it was MY FAULT!! I wanted to scream. I'd always fantasized about getting rid of the Erasers, but I always knew that I wouldn't ever DO it!

All of a sudden, Erasers were taking off all around me. Julius must have given orders to chase down the runaways while I made my horrible self-discovery. I quickly jumped into the air and opened my wings, careful not to get left behind. I had a terrible source of direction; I was sure to get lost if left alone. A nearby Eraser looked at me with a wary, yet confused look on his face. He must have seen my panicked expression. "What's your _problem_?" His tone implied that he considered me more of a freak than usual.

"Weren't there _ten_ of us earlier?" I asked shakily.

"Were? There still _are,_ you moron."

"But I only saw..."

"You idiot. Didn't you listen? Reuben stayed at camp- he's too much of a wuss to take on a couple runaways," he scoffed.

I tried to mask my relief. Nobody was dead. I hadn't killed anyone. Reuben just had food poisoning, I remembered now. He'd tried too hard to be polite. He was probably barfing his guts out at this very moment.

The other Eraser rolled his eyes and shifted his direction to get further away from where I was flying. We didn't need to be in formation at this point- the whole focus was on getting to the mutants. I mentally went over what I remembered of their descriptions from before we left.

The guy was skinny and had light brown hair and wings. The girl one was slightly less skinny, but still anorexic-looking. Her hair was frizzy, short like mine, but black. Her wings were dark with hints of silver on the edges.

The mental picture of my quarry fresh in my mind, I stopped following along at the Erasers' pace. I went a little faster, my smaller frame zig-zagging between the slow-moving hairy obstacles. Everyone, I noticed was looking in different directions. I kept my focus slightly to the left.

We continued like that until long past dark. The wolf DNA in the Erasers enhanced their night vision, but mine was slightly weaker than theirs. And by slightly weaker, I mean I couldn't see a thing. I tried really hard, straining my eyes for some darker patch of black amongst the all-consuming darkness. The night air was cold, even through my fur.

One of the Erasers growled. I started and turned my head toward him; it had been hours since the last noise we'd heard. The Eraser went into a steep dive and we all followed suit.

He'd found them.

As the ground rushed up to meet me, I could see a little clearer. The two bird kids were sitting, facing away from us, in a _very_ small clearing. The remains of a burnt-out fire smouldered nearby. That was all that their camp consisted of; no tents, no provisions, nothing. They couldn't have gotten any of that stuff anyway. They looked cold. Poor freaks.

Wait a second! I reminded myself. I can't feel _sorry_ for them!

As we drew nearer, the pity faded and instinct took over. I could feel the excitement in the air, radiating off of the surrounding Erasers. We were so close to getting what we came for! And _I_ was going to be the first one to get my claws into them. I was going to tear those losers apart.

All logical thought dissipated as I landed ahead of the pack. It took all of my self-control to wait for them to land around me.When the last of them had landed, nine Erasers rushed forward. Bloodthirsty snarls ripped themselves from our throats. Our teeth showed themselves menacingly. I curled my pawlike hands to resemble talons of a merciless bird of prey. My black claws didn't glimmer, like weapons always did in the movies before an attack. Glimmering requires light, and it was absolutely dark. The moon hid itself from the oncoming attack.

The experiments whirled around, having heard us. The girl screamed something to the other one. I could taste their fear. Yet, they weren't scared enough. They thought they had a chance. I ran forward to dispel that belief.

I jumped onto the closer one of the two. He shouted out to the girl to run, to fly away. I was kicked in the gut, and he rolled out from under me. I leapt up, dodging another attack. My hand lunged out, claws curving ahead. He screamed as blood seeped from the gouge in his arm. I leapt toward him again, excitement running through every cell in my body. His fear was increasing.

There were two other Erasers fighting the girl. The rest of them had surrounded the clearing, cutting off any escape.

I ducked under the mutant's fist, and grabbed his arm. I began to yank on it, but was caught in the middle of it with another kick to the gut. I let go, all the air escaping my lungs. He took off into the air immediately, and I followed. He turned on me and spun around to send a kick toward my head. I half-dodged it, his foot hitting me in the shoulder. I growled and shot towards him. He looked at me strangely. He'd found out that I was different from the other Erasers. That I was worse.

I pulled my arm back to claw him again, but he shot underneath me. Holy crap he was fast. I was half turned around when I felt a sharp blow to my side. My momentum reversed, and I rolled away from him, my wings whirling around me like a pinwheel in a hurricane.

I struggled to right myself. By the time that I was upright again, I was far beyond the circle of Erasers below. The kid came at me again, and a group of Erasers from below started taking off to try their best to take him down.

Distracted, I barely dodged another blow to my head. I looked angrily into the face of my attacker. He was no longer afraid of me. His eyes were full of hatred and anger toward me, more hatred than I'd ever recieved from an Eraser. I ducked, avoiding a roundhouse kick aimed dangerously high. I flew under him and turned around, so that I was behind him. I placed a kick right between his wings. The mutant buckled, then spun around unexpectedly. His fist landed squarely in the side of my head and sent me spinning as everything got darker than before.

I felt a hand on each of my wings, then suddenly they were forced together behind my back. Pain shot through my body, and I couldn't help but scream. I plummeted, and the last thing I saw before everything went black was a pair of eyes showing so much hatred that it hurt more than my wings.

* * *

Sorry if the fighting deal was kinda stupid. I've never written anything like this before. Let me know what you think! I want a bunch of reviews before I post the next chapter! Let's say, 10? Okay, review!! Tell me how to make it better, okay?

-Deji


	8. Chapter eight: Lost

Alright, I'm done waiting for reviews. You people stink. But I want some reviews before I add the next chapter, okay? PLEASE? I want to know how much this story sucks. It's my first fanfic and I want it to be good. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!

(Insert hug here!)-Deji

I don't own Maximum Ride, and as such, I didn't invent Erasers, whitecoats, mutant bird kids, the Institute, etc.

I DO own the plot of this story, and the characters in it! (Fine, I share some with Goober, but only we can use them!) NO STEALING! I like Aspen and she is mine and not yours. Get your own OC mutant.

* * *

Chapter eight: Lost

When I woke up it was dark. I rolled over onto my side. I choked on a scream. I looked at my wing on my left side. It was bent in ways that it certainly wasn't intended to. I snarled through my clenched teeth. Gingerly, I sat up, avoiding any movements that would jostle my wing in any way. OWWW. I checked for overall damage. Besides my wing, there were several deep cuts, many more shallow scrapes, and bruises covering virtually every inch of my body. Falling out of the sky into a heavily wooded area- I wouldn't recommend it.

For the first time, I looked at my surroundings. I was in a thick part of a forest. Looking up, I could see where my body had broken tree limbs when I'd been knocked out of the sky by that (insert strong adjective here) mutant kid. Growling again, I stood up. I unfolded my wings to maneuver my way up and out of the woods. I sucked back another scream. THAT wasn't going to be the most effective tactic. I clumsily folded my wings back up under my (now torn nearly to shreds) black sweatshirt. The reddish golden feathers of my left wing still showed themselves, their black tips quivering in the breeze that was hardly even there.

Okay, plan B then. I reached up to press the button on my earpiece, to call the other Erasers to come and get me. There wasn't anything there. Crap. I looked down, and saw the broken splinters of my escape route laying strewn on the ground. Crap. Looks like I was going to have to walk. But which way? The forest looked so different from down here. And falling out of the sky is kind of disorienting, in case you didn't know that. I wasn't even sure how long I'd been here.

Oh, well. I wasn't ever going to get out if I just sat around waiting to find out where I was. I chose to walk in a general "that way" direction, until I was in the open. Then maybe I could figure out where I was. My neck fur bristled with pain whenever I brushed against anything with my left side. I was just too big and awkward.

I looked around, double-checking that I was alone. I wasn't supposed to do this. What the heck. I was going to be in big enough trouble for getting beat up by an experiment, anyway. I un-Erasered, feeling my claws change to harmless fingernails, the fur all over my body receding, and my snout and teeth change to a human face. My clothes felt much baggier now, but I could move more easily between the trees. I brushed my shortish hair out of my face. I liked being in my human-er form. I felt less like garbage, less different. The only thing that hinted at my unique DNA was my hair. It was a reddish brown color, which was pretty normal. The weird part was the way it faded to almost black at the ends. Like a fox.

The forest ahead was getting lighter. Excited, I picked up my pace. In pain, I reduced it again. The trees were getting further apart, and I could see better. I began to wonder what exactly I was going to do once I figured out where I was. Oh, well. I'd decide when I got to the clearing.

I stepped between the last of the trees and looked around. Nothing familiar. I sat down on a rock, frustrated. I'd walked the wrong way for who knows how long. I was tired, and hungry. I hadn't eaten since we left the Institute. Curse my lack of culinary skills.

I spread out my wings carefully, moaning as my left made its sad attempt at straightening out. The sun felt good on the broken wing, warming it gently. I closed my eyes, letting the sun warm my face as well. That was nice... Laying down for a few minutes wouldn't hurt anyone...

- - -

A scream woke me up with a start. I sat up and looked around, searching for the source of the noise. Nothing moved; the clearing was silent. I must have dreamed it. I looked up at the sky. Pink and orange mingled together beautifully. Shoot. I'd slept much harder than I intended. It looked like I'd be staying here for the night.

"Robin, relax. What's wrong?" A gasp soon followed.

I sat up straight. I hadn't dreamt it after all. I wasn't alone. "Who's there?" I demanded. It sounded a lot weaker than I meant it to. Geez, I'd forgotten how different my voice sounded when I wasn't morphed. The fact I was scared out of my wits didn't help either. They had probably seen my wings by now. Crap.

"Who's there? I can hear you!" I tried to sound threatening, but my voice cracked. What if the someone had found me? And seen my wings? I would be in SO much trouble. As in, _cruelly experimented on with electrical currents _trouble. I'd seen it done. NOT fun-looking.

"Hey, it's okay. We're not Erasers," said a girl's voice. She was probably the one who'd screamed. How did she know what an Eraser was? And why would I be worried about them being Erasers? Erasers could take me back to camp.

"Then who are you?" I shouted into the forest to the left of me. I felt like a moron. I still couldn't see either of the people that I'd heard. "Hey where the crap are y-" There was a hand over my mouth. I panicked. Screaming, I tried to wriggle out of my captor's grasp so I could morph and tear their throat out. Geez, they were strong.

"Shhh! Ow! Shut UP! There might be Erasers nearby!" I stopped. I don't exactly know why. Maybe it was the panic in his voice. "Thank you." He let go of me. I turned to face him and nearly started screaming again.

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Teehee. Evil cliffy. Tell me what you think! PLEASE! I'm really excited about the next chapter. REVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!!

-Deji


	9. Chapter nine: Conner and Robin

Hey! Sorry for the evil cliffy. I REALLY wanted reviews. (It worked! Yay!) ANYway...

Disclaimer/Claimer thingy: James Patterson wrote Maximum Ride. And considering the fact that he's a man, and (except sometimes when I'm onstage...) I'm NOT, in any way, shape, or form, a man, but in fact a girl, I am NOT James Patterson. I'm Deji and I wrote Aspen. And considering that you aren't me, you did not write Aspen OR invent the characters thereof. (Unless you're Goober, in which case you did half the work... or maybe more?) So I don't think you should write anything using them. (Refer to the threat at the beginning of chapter four. I'm still totally serious. I've got the spork all ready and everything.)

-Deji

PS- Sorry that it's taken me so long... MAJOR writer's block. (Of course, once I finally have time to write, I can't. Just my luck.)

* * *

Chapter nine: Conner and Robin

"Shh! What's your problem, anyway? You act like you think I'm an Eraser or something."

I stared at him in horror. He smiled back at me reassuringly. His blue eyes were warm, without a hint of the hatred and fury I'd seen in them when I'd last met him. And tried to kill him. And got the crap beat out of me. Why was he being so... nice? Did he normally help out those he'd previously been bent on destroying?

"Hey, just hit her with a rock or something and let's get out of here. We're still too close to where we got attacked." I hadn't noticed the girl standing next to him yet. Her black hair was a little longer than mine, and flying in all directions.

The boy turned to her. "We can't just leave her here! Look at her. She's as beat up as we are. The Erasers will eat her alive if..." He stopped, looking anxiously at me. "Um... figure of speech. We'll be right back." He put his hand on the girl's shoulder and started pushing her back towards the trees. I watched them talking to each other. The girl looked angry and kept gesturing towards me. The boy just shook his head and gestured towards me, too. She stopped flailing in my direction and nodded, but it looked reluctant. She followed him back over to where I still sat stupidly on my rock.

"Hey, sorry if we scared you," said the boy. "We just really don't want to get caught. Shocker, right?" He laughed. I almost did, too. But with hysteria. He seemed to notice the look on my face, but didn't comment. "Uh... It looks like you got into an Eraser fight," the girl commented from beside him, glancing at my oddly bent wing. "Um... yeah." I _guess _it was an Eraser fight. Depending on your definition.

"I'm Conner, and this is Robin." The boy... Conner... looked at me expectantly. "Um... I'm... uh..." Crap. I'd only been called by name about three times in my life. (Unless you count Reuben. But I pretty much block out what he's saying more than half the time.) Usually, when it wasn't a number or 'hey, you' I was something along the lines of 'Loser' or 'Freak.' What _was_my name? ... Alvin? No, that's a chipmunky guys' name. Oh, right. "I'm Aspen."

Conner looked at me weird. "Like the tree?" "What?" "Your name. It's a kind of tree." "Uh, yeah. I guess so." My namesake was a foliage. You can't begin to imagine the excitement it brought me to come to that conclusion.

I started to stand up, feeling outnumbered and vulnerable. I winced as the movement jostled my wing. "Hmmm... that looks pretty bad," observed Robin. "Can't fly with that, can you?" I shook my head. "I'm not really tempted to try." Suddenly, pain shot through my wing. I couldn't hold back the scream. "Sorry. I probably should have warned you." Conner looked at me apologetically. "I'm just trying to fix it before it heals wrong. You wouldn't be able to fly at all if it healed like this," He gestured to my bent appendage. It looked pretty gross, actually. The dried blood didn't give a very pleasant overall appearance.

"Here, just let me fix it. It'll only hurt a li... okay, this is REALLY going to hurt." Conner looked concerned. I was baffled. "Why?"

He looked at me oddly. "Um, because I'm going to be moving the broken bones around in your wing..." "No, why are you doing this? I never did anything for you...?" He raised his eyebrows at me. "Would you rather I didn't help you?" "Um... no. But why?" He looked at me, his face both confused and thoughtful. "I don't know, really. I guess everyone deserves a fighting chance, right? You probably worked really hard to get out of the Institute, and you shouldn't have to go back." He laughed quietly. "unless you_ want_ to go back," he added jokingly.

I laughed along, seeing no humor in his joke. Why _wouldn't _I want to go back? I couldn't take care of myself. At least at the Institute I had somewhere to sleep, and someone else was cooking. ...But I had no way of getting back. I was going to die out here, in the middle of nowhere, just because I can't cook anything that didn't look like it would try to eat me first.

"Hold on. I'm going to straighten your wing out, okay?" I nodded, not looking at Conner. If he had any idea of how my wing had gotten into its current state... what with me being outnumbered and more than slightly disadvantaged in the fact that I was unable to fly... not good.

I just had to get out of there as soon as humanly (or mutantly, rather) possible.

"So, how long ago did you escape?" Robin's conversation seemed forced. She obviously didn't trust me yet.

"Um... yesterday." I couldn't come up with a lie, so I told the truth. Mostly. "Escape" isn't the word I would have used, but whatever. "Yesterday? Wow... must not have been a very clean getaway," she said, indicating my wing. I forced a laugh. "Yeah... the Erasers, um, followed me this far, though before they, um... got me." Jeez, I couldn't lie worth crap to her. Why? I'd lied to whitecoats and Erasers all my life. Why should it be harder to lie to a stupid runaway mutant?

"AAAAAAAH!" Conner caught me by surprise, jerking my wing into position. It took all of my self-control not to morph right there and tear out his throat. Both he and Robin looked at me with concern, Robin's face dark with mistrust. "Sorry..." Conner began, but he stopped, not sure what to say. "No problem," I gasped. "Um... thanks." It sounded like a question. I'd never had to say that to anyone. I'd never been in a situation where it would have been necessary.

Robin looked around. "Hey... are you alone?"

I was confused. "Alone?"

"Yeah. Who did you escape with?"

"Umm... I got out alone. I didn't have anyone else to help me."

Robin looked confused. "What about the other person in your cell?"

"I didn't have anyone else in my cell."

"Why not? I knew of cells with three bird kids in them."

I had to come up with something, quick. Oh well. A little more truth, then. "I'm not exactly a 'bird kid.' I've got some other DNA in me, too."

Conner looked surprised. "Really? Well, weren't there any other of... whatever you are... in there?"

"No. They never made any more of me. I was considered a nearly complete failure. Not enough of a failure to kill me, but enough that they didn't want to repeat their 'mistake.' Meaning me." That was me- a mistake. I couldn't even take down a single bird kid by myself. What a loser.

Robin's mistrustful face softened a bit. "Oh. You must have been so lonely." I'd never even thought of it that way. Lonely. It made sense...

Conner looked around. "It's getting kind of dark," he said to Robin. "We should probably go find some place to stay for the night."

Robin nodded. "Yeah. Those clouds don't look so good." They didn't. They looked like surly gray cotton balls. Just bigger. "I think I saw an old abandoned wood shed thing over there," she said, gesturing over her shoulder as she spoke. Conner nodded. "Sounds good. How far?" Robin thought. "About a quarter mile at most." "Good. Let's check it out. I'm getting tired of abandoned animal dens. They're almost as bad as the _un_abandoned dens." Robin laughed, turning to walk back into the trees. "... Badgers..."

Conner turned to follow her. I watched them leave, surprised that I wanted them to stay.

Conner turned around. "Hey, come on! Do you want to get caught in the rain?" Shocked, I stood up and followed them into the trees. Thunder rolled menacingly in the distance, the lightning a thin thread of light through the quickly darkening sky.


	10. Chapter ten: Nice

I don't own Maximum Ride or Erasers or Whitecoats, blah, blah, blah. (Is this as boring to read as it is to write? Geez.) I do, on the other hand, own Aspen and all of the characters thereof. (Sure, I share some with Goober, but whatever. You still can't steal them.) Because then I'd be a bit miffed. And I can't write when I'm miffed. Or do much else for that matter. I just sit around feeling... miffed. (Ooh... welcome to the redundant office of redundancy. How can we help to assist you?)

Sorry about the extensive delay... I'd like to say that I had a good reason like play rehearsals or something, but I don't have any good excuses. I just haven't felt like writing lately... except when I'd be in school taking a test or laying bed not able to fall asleep when I'd get an amazing idea. Then I'd forget it before I could write it down. It's getting harder for me to write, since this is the least-planned part of the story, so it'll be less often that I'll post chapters. Sorry.

-Deji

* * *

Chapter ten: Nice

I followed Conner and Robin, several paces behind them. They would occasionally look back at me or talk to me. Conner's face was always open and friendly, but Robin's showed traces of well-hidden mistrust. I'd have to be careful around her until I could escape without looking too suspicious.

I almost smiled to myself, seeing the dark humor in my situation. _I_, a trained _Eraser,_ was being practically _held captive_ by a couple of _runaway experiments._ Not just any runaways, but the very ones I was trying to capture myself. You have to admit, it couldn't have gotten more ironic. Or pathetic. I was never going to be allowed out of the Institute again, once I got back. There was no _if_ about it. I _would_ get back. Or die tr... I _would_get back. And I'd tell the Whitecoats where to find the runaways. No... I'd bring them back with me and become a hero! No Eraser had ever brought back two experiments single-handedly. Maybe they'd appreciate me so much they'd let me get a restraining order or something from Reuben...

"Aspen, what are you doing? We're stopping here." Robin looked at me strangely. I hadn't realized where I was going, and walked right past her and Conner where they'd stopped in front of an untidy stack of rotten planks.

"Sorry, I was, uh, lost in thought." I couldn't come up with a total lie right on the spot... a little more truth then. That was how you get people to trust you, right? You don't lie. Any more than absolutely necessary.

They turned and walked over to the pile of rotting wood behind them. Conner pulled on the biggest board on the side closest to me. What was he doing? Maybe he'd use it to build a shelter... but hadn't he said something about an abandoned wood shed...?

Oh.

I looked again at the pile of old wood and realized it was actually man-made. It was the most dilapidated structure I'd ever seen, probably full of rodents and various creepy-crawlies. The windows, where there was any glass left, were yellowed and cracked. The thing Conner was pulling on was the door. Cozy.

The door wrenched open finally, and Conner held it open while Robin walked in warily. I heard her shuffling around inside. "Alright, it looks fine," Robin called back to him. Conner held the door open further, gesturing for me to go in first. Judging by the way he chuckled as I passed him, he'd seen the look of confusion on my face.

"What's wrong, Aspen?" he asked jokingly. "Not used to the 'ladies first' rule?" My confusion deepened. "Ladies first? Why in the world are ladies first?" _And since when was I a lady? _I nearly added.

Conner stopped. "I'm not sure. It's just nice, I guess."

I snorted. "_Nice?_ Why are you being nice to me? For all you know, I could be your enemy." I stopped, horrified. I was being _way_ too open with him. Why? I'd never talked to _anyone_ so openly. Of course, I never had talked to anyone that didn't already hate me beforehand. It made me sad to realize that even now that hadn't changed. He already hated me of course. He just didn't know it. There wasn't anyone in the world aware of my existence, that didn't hate me. (With Reuben taken out of account. I'd _rather_ he hated me though... that should count for something in the matter.)

Conner snapped me out of my cheerless reverie. "I don't know... I just... hmm..." He looked frustrated, and just as confused as I was. Just not as depressed. He looked at me hard, as if expecting to pull the answers out of my face somehow. I stopped, uncomfortable under his gaze. I searched his face for answers of my own... did he know what I was? Had he guessed? His eyes were deep blue, and completely lacking in suspicion. I hadn't slipped up too badly, then.

Conner shrugged. "I guess it was just for the sake of being nice." But his eyes lingered on mine for a moment longer, searching for an answer that would have explained things better, or for one whose origin I wasn't aware.

He held the door open a little wider. "It's rude to linger in doorways," he whispered. I half-smiled as I walked in. I was too immersed in my thoughts to appreciate his joke.

Robin was laying a frazzled blue-gray blanket out on the floor. I recognized without surprise the uniform sheets that were put in all the experiments' "cells." They were more like cages; it was necessary to prevent exactly what these two had done. They had escaped.

I was supposed to fix that. And as soon as my wing was healed, I'd lead them right back to the very place they had run away from.

* * *

Was that absolutely terrible? Reply and let me know! Tell me everything that comes to your mind! I don't care if it's rude! I'm not posting till I have at least **_30 reviews_**. Mwahahaha.

-Deji


	11. Chapter eleven: This weird one

Maximum Ride isn't mine, and neither are Erasers, mutant flying bird kids, or whitecoats.

Aspen IS mine, and so is Conner, Robin, Aspen, Reuben, and all the other freaks in here.

...I am getting seriously sick and tired of writing that. sigh.

* * *

Chapter eleven: This weird one...

"So, I'll take the first watch tonight. You didn't do that too well last night, did you?" Robin chuckled. Conner scowled. "They came from behind me... they were quieter than I expected." I was confused. "What are you talking about?" Robin turned to me, her face suddenly dark. "We were attacked last night by a huge group of Erasers while Conner was supposed to be keeping watch."

Conner suddenly turned back to her, angry. "You wouldn't have been able to do anything more than I did. I was tired, and there were so many of them! And there was this weird one..."

Suddenly I was more attentive. He must have been talking about me. I was the only different one.

Conner continued, not noticing my sudden increase in interest. "It was so weird... it was an Eraser, but not an Eraser, you know? I mean it had the fangs, and the claws, and the wings, and the bad attitude and everything, but it was different. It was like, smaller and faster. And I _think_ it was a girl."

"A _girl_? There aren't girl Erasers." Robin interrupted. Conner nodded. "I know. That's what's been confusing me. And it... she... whatever. It was trying so hard to get me... harder than any of the other Erasers. I got out of the Institute, past a huge group of Erasers without much more than a scratch. And this one..." He stopped. "Never mind. It's not important. Just weird."

Robin was panicking. "WHAT? What did it do to you Conner? Are you okay? What happened? Did it..."

"Shut up, Robin, I'm okay." Robin's hysterics calmed. "It just grazed my arm, okay?" "Let me see it, " Robin demanded. "No." "But, Conner, you're hurt! You need to let me..." Conner shook his head stubbornly. "Robin, you'll just make a big deal out of it. You overreact to everything." She glowered. "Let me fix it. You'll get an infection." Conner sighed. "Fine. Bandage it up or whatever."

Robin tore off an edge of the blanket she was sitting on. "Take your jacket off." Conner unzipped his black sweatshirt and pulled off the right sleeve. He gingerly pulled the other one off, wincing. I gasped. The gash went deep into his flesh, tearing deep into the muscle. Had I done_ that?_

"It's not as bad as it looks," he said reassuringly, to Robin and I. Robin's eyes looked panicked and afraid.

He was lying; I knew that much.

Robin relaxed slightly at his false assurance. "Robin, can you get me some water? There's a stream nearby..."

"Um, sure." I found a rusty bucket by the door and took it outside. Anything to get away from them... from his blood.

I was a hunter. The sight and smell of blood always brought out the worst- the Eraser- in me. I could NOT let them see me as the very monster that had caused the problem that they were trusting me to help fix. Somehow I couldn't see that as beneficial. Call me a pessimist.

I found the small stream easily. Too quickly. I filled the bucket, then sat on a mossy rock. I calmed myself down, regaining as much control as I could. My reflection stared back at me from the bucket with red-gold eyes. She looked worried. "It's okay," I told her. "I can stay in control. I won't even stay in there very long. I'll... stay outside and keep watch." The girl in the bucket seemed content with that plan. I nodded to her, and she returned the gesture. "Let's get this over with."

I carried the bucket back into the shack just as the rain started coming down. Lightning forked through the sky, followed ominously close by its thunderous boom. So much for going back outside.

"What took you so long?" Robin demanded. She still looked pretty worried. I imagined how much more worried she'd be if she knew the answer to that.

"I had some- uh, difficulty finding the stream," I lied. "Hmph. Well, get that water over here," she said, buying it. "I need to clean the wound. Quick!" Conner grumbled something about overreactions while I brought the bucket over to her. I walked over to a corner while she soaked her rag in the water. "Where are you going?" Conner asked me. "Blood makes me... uh, queasy," I lied again. He nodded, wincing as Robin cleaned his wound.

I felt guilty for the lies, for how easily they believed me. It wasn't just them, I hated lying even to the other Erasers. I wasn't sure why... they (the other Erasers) lied all the time and didn't have problems with it. Maybe that was the reason; that Erasers lie. I hated being one of them, and lying made me like them. Or maybe because nobody could really lie to me. Maybe that was why it made it so much harder for me to lie and see others believe it. Or maybe it was just because I was the "weird one."

Conner inhaled sharply. "Sorry, Conner." Robin didn't look up from his injury. "Aspen?" "Yeah, Robin?" It was weird, calling someone by name instead of "Moron," or "Idiot," or something along those lines. "Can you like, distract Conner? He's concentrating too much on what I'm doing." "Oh... okay."

I walked over and sat next to him. "So... am I distracting?" He smiled. "Yeah..." His expression was soft, despite what Robin was doing. Out of the corner of my eye, here expression was hard. It was quiet for a while. Conner kept looking at me. I kept looking back. His eyes were so blue... Robin coughed. We snapped out of it, and Conner turned red.

A sharp scraping noise on the wall next to me pulled me out of my thoughts before they could form completely. Robin didn't notice, too caught up in her work. Conner lifted his head, having heard it like me. I put my weak human ear up against the wall, listening. I heard the faint murmur of voices. I couldn't tell if they were male or female, Eraser or human. I needed to see. I lifted myself up off the floor and peeked just over the windowsill.

Through a hole in the broken glass, I saw nine Erasers, all staring directly at me.

* * *

_To be honest, it doesn't take me very long for me to write a chapter... they're pretty short, if you haven't noticed. But I don't feel like even starting if nobody will tell me what they think!! This is my first story that I've ever actually written down... I rarely make it past the planning stage... I'm too lazy to write it down most of the time. I just liked my idea for this one so much that I had to write it down. Or I'd forget it. Haha. So you'd better review, or I will be extremely disappointed. Maybe I'll cry..._

_Just tell me how I can make it better!! Or say that you like it or SOMETHING! I'm BEGGING you, people! (Whom I will probably never see in my life...) Tell me it sucks! I don't care! For real this time, I want more than two reviews before I move on. And I'm sorry, but each review only counts for one review. ) (Haha I made him drool)_

_And yes, I'm aware of my evil cliffy. That was fully intentional. Mwahahaha!_

_-Deji_

_PS-Thanks much to all of you (meaning like, three. At most.) that have been consistantly sending me reviews! I love you all! -Mass hug-_


	12. Chapter twelve: Change of Mind

All the Maximum Ride-related stuff isn't mine, and all the other stuff is. So don't take it. Or face the wrath of my crazed purple flying squirrels. The end.

* * *

Chapter twelve: Change of Mind

I ducked down with a gasp. How had they found me? I'd lost all of my traceable equipment. They'd found me. I almost grinned with relief. I was saved. I was going home.

My relief washed away when I saw the terror etched on Conner's face. He was entirely vulnerable, laying on the ground with his arm held firmly in Robin's grasp. She was still oblivious. "Erasers?" he asked, barely audible. I inclined my head slightly. His terror changed slowly into an angry determination.

He twisted his head to Robin and said something so quietly that I couldn't hear him. Her eyes widened in horror, and she looked again at the wound she was in the process of cleaning. She wrapped it hastily in her makeshift bandage without finishing cleaning the wound entirely.

The atmosphere in the shed had just gone through the most dramatic change I'd ever experienced, in a matter of seconds. It left me feeling a little dizzy. Just a little.

But I wasn't going back to the Institute. And neither were Conner or Robin.

The door was suddenly torn off its hinges. I saw Conner and Robin whirl to face where it had been. Through the hole stepped a gigantic Julius, with a still-slightly green Reuben following behind him. The other seven Erasers filed in behind them.

Julius glared at Conner and Robin, determining what the best method of detaining them would be. Conner's eyes flickered to me; I could see through his outward show of fearless bravado to the terror at the thought of being outnumbered so terribly.

The monstrous Eraser followed Conner's look and finally spotted me. The shock on his furry face was fleeting, and soon filled with smugness. He smiled.

CRAP. He was going to congratulate me in capturing the freaks. They couldn't know what I was! He couldn't take us back! I leaped at him, fists flying at his enormous frame.

His smugness melted into fury at my attack. He reached out with his clawed hands and shoved me to the ground. His gigantic boot found my hand and ground it into the ground. Julius snarled as I bit my lip to keep from screaming.

Suddenly a shape flew across my vision, pushing Julius away from me. I jumped up to see Conner grappling with Julius. The other Erasers just stood around, at loss for what to do. Reuben's expression would have been absolutely priceless under any other circumstance. He stood with his jaw hanging half-open, staring at me incredulously. If it hadn't been for the other Erasers' sudden reaction to my unexpected attack, I would have laughed.

But the Eraser clawing at my face was drawing my attention away. I shoved him away, pushing my way through the crowd toward the door. It was a lot harder than I expected... my un-Erasery body was much weaker than theirs'. I gasped as the clawed hands jostled my broken wing in their attempts to stop my escape. I saw Conner and Robin trying similarly to escape.

I shoved one last Eraser aside and bolted through the opening where the door had been. Conner pushed out directly behind me, pursued by three Erasers. Robin shot out between them, her eyes filled with panic. The rest of the Erasers followed behind her, pushing each other out of the way to get to their prey. I knew from experience that that was what we were now... I'd never imagined I'd be the hunted rather than the hunter. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be, I decided as I barely dodged another hairy fist.

I saw Robin leap into the air and take off. Conner quickly followed suit. CRAP. What was I supposed to do? I had no means of escape, with my wing unserviceable. I ran harder, knowing I had no hope left. I could almost feel the Erasers' excitement as they realized that they practically had me.

Suddenly there were arms around me. They had me. I screamed.

* * *

It has been brought to my attention that I come across as a "review Nazi." I'm sorry for that. -Apologetic smile- I'll try to be less review-hungry from here on. Just please tell me what you think. But I'd like at least one well-written review with constructive criticism after each chapter. Thanx. -Deji


	13. Chapter thirteen: Tree

Maximum Ride isn't mine, Aspen is. If you take my ideas, you will wake up one night very confused, tied up in my basement with me glaring at you from a corner mumbling somewhat incoherently about medieval torture methods. Jk... or am I? Muahahaha.

-Deji

* * *

Chapter thirteen: Tree

"Shut up, Aspen," said a voice that wasn't the half-growl of an Eraser's. My feet left the ground as Conner lifted me away from the pursuing Erasers. "There might be Erasers nearby," he added. I couldn't help but laugh at his repetition of what he'd said in the clearing where (he thought) we'd first met. I'd been screaming a lot lately.

He easily outflew the Erasers, even with my deadweight. I could see Robin just ahead of us. I wondered why she didn't drop back to fly with us. Occasionally she'd glare back at Conner and I when she thought we weren't looking. What was her deal, anyway?

We landed about a half an hour later in a tree. Yes, that's what I said. A tree. Conner landed on a sturdy bough and set me down. He didn't seem to have any balancing issues... that was probably his bird DNA at work. I clung to the trunk apprehensively. Unlike him, I was more of a dog than a bird. And there's a reason dogs don't sleep in trees.

Conner laughed at my expression. He sat on the bough, perfectly at ease. He spread his wings slightly for balance. I followed suit and sat down next to him, gripping the branch fiercely. I winced as I tried spreading my wings, too. Conner glanced at me with concern. "It's nothing, seriously," I assured him. He shrugged, not bothering to pursue the subject.

"Like I was saying, I'll take the watch." I hadn't noticed Robin when we, er... Conner, landed. I was focusing on not falling to my death, I guess.

Conner shrugged again. "Whatever. I'm tired." He sprawled across two branches and closed his eyes.

Robin turned and stared off into the quickly darkening sky. I continued to clutch my spot on the branch, unsure which movements would send me careening to my death. "That was weird," Conner noted groggily, already half-asleep.

"What was weird?" Robin asked absentmindedly.

"That one Eraser-thing... it wasn't there..."

I froze. I hadn't thought about that. Crap.

Conner shrugged. "Probably hurt it too badly for it to come." He lauged darkly. "Serves it right," he added, absently tracing where I'd gouged his arm.

He yawned, and soon his breathing grew slower. I didn't dare shift my weight at all. This whole tree thing wasn't really working for me.

Why was I even here? Why hadn't I just gone with Julius, let them take me back to the Institute? I'd have food... I wouldn't have to sleep (or attempt to do so) in a tree... A tree! Even my stiff bunk would beat a tree, hands-down.

Conner shifted slightly, jiggling the branch. My sharp intake of breath made Robin chuckle. I looked at Conner. His eyes shifted restlessly in his sleep. I sighed. I couldn't just ditch him, or Robin. They were the only ones in the whole world that didn't hate me, whom I could stand. Well, I guess they did hate me. They just didn't know it. I sighed.

My situation pretty much sucked from any point of view now. If I went back to the Institute somehow, I would be cruelly punished for fighting against the other Erasers. CRUELLY punished. Like, human-punching-bag cruel. (Or rather, hairy-mutant-thing-punching-bag. Whatever.) And that punching bag was also used as a scratching post of sorts. Oodles of fun.

On the other hand, I could stay with the mutants, and continue running from/get beat up by Erasers. At least, until Conner and Robin find out what I really am. Then they'd beat me to a pulp, I'm sure. I mean, they were nice, but they weren't stupid.

I sighed. Maybe it would be better if I just fell out of the tree. It would save everyone a lot of trouble. I couldn't bring myself to "fall" off the limb, though. Stupid self-preservation instinct. I sighed in frustration.

"Aspen," Robin called, just above a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"You awake?"

"No," I answered sarcastically.

Robin didn't smile. "Stop it."

"What?" Stop being sarcastic?

Robin shook her head. "No. Leave Conner alone. You're the last thing he needs."

She didn't know how right she was. I refrained from pointing that out to her.

She turned to glare at me. "I saw how you were looking at him, 'distracting' him. That was so..." She didn't finish. Her furious expression said enough.

"What?! It wasn't like that! It was just... well... he was staring at me! I couldn't just look away! It would be all weird."

Robin looked unconvinced. "Then make it all weird, then. I don't care. Just stop. You're only going to make it worse when you leave."

"Oh..." Of course I was going to have to leave. What was I thinking?

"Yeah. We've been together for about fifteen years. I'm not going to let you do anything to hurt him. And nobody is ever going to get in between us. Nobody!" Her voice, though still low enough not to wake Conner, was shaking.

Her viciousness surprised me. Did she seriously think that I was trying to take Conner? Like, as a boyfriend or something? I knew enough about guys being in love with me that I wasn't going to go looking for it. The last thing I wanted was another Reuben to deal with. Ew.

When I looked up again, Robin was glaring out into the darkness rather than at me. I thought I saw a tear slide down her cheek, but when I looked again, it was gone.

Probably just the shadows playing tricks on me.

* * *

Yay! Was it good? Review, please! Thanx.

-Deji

PS- I'm thinking about changing my pen name... Goober quit, so yeah. I've got a poll on my profile on the subject. :D


	14. Chapter fourteen: More Tree

I'm not James Patterson. I'm Deji. Erasers, et cetera belong to not me. Aspen, et cetera belong to me. The end.

* * *

Chapter fourteen: More Tree

Sunlight filtered through the surrounding branches, and my eyes cracked open. I'd somehow fallen asleep without realizing it. In a tree. Wow. Not something I'd ever imagined myself doing, much less being capable of doing so.

I straightened out from my awkward position, my head was leaned against the tree's trunk while my hands were still clenched to the branch I was half-sitting on. I flexed my stiff fingers while carefully latching to the tree with my knees.

Conner sat up and stretched next to me. The branch jostled as he shifted his weight. I gasped and automatically spread my wings for balance. My injured wing was stiff, but didn't hurt too badly. Still hurt like crap, though. Conner noticed my grimace. "Sorry." He only just suppressed a smile, though. He seemed to find my inability to sit in a tree hilarious.

"No, it's fine," I said. Conner looked skeptical. "Aspen, you're being-"

"Can you two shut up? I think I saw something..." Robin's hushed voice came from a branch above where we sat. Conner tensed next to me, not finishing his sentence. I gripped the branch, trying to make as little noise as possible. Robin jumped out of the tree and spread her wings, heading to where I guessed that she heard the noise.

Time stretched on silently while we waited for her to return, or hear her scream, or _anything_. I ignored my aching fingers as my grip tightened with tension. I couldn't hear anything but Conner's even, quiet breathing; even the birds were silent. Nothing moved. It was like the world had frozen around us. If something didn't happen soon, I'd probably go crazy. Well, crazi_er_.

Something moved in the trees. My eyes locked on the place where I'd seen the movement. I felt Conner shift very slightly on the branch. Nothing moved again. We stared at that spot for another eternity without anything happening. I turned my head to look at Conner.

He didn't look too worried, to my surprise. He noticed my anxious expression and smiled. "Don't worry. If Erasers had found her, we'd hear something. And she's not stupid; she can get away from a couple of monsters with the IQ of furry flying boulders." He chuckled at his description of the Erasers. I smiled, too, glad he'd misinterpreted my anxiety. I wasn't worried about Robin, of course. She didn't matter at all. As long as _I_ was safe, I didn't care _what_ happened to her.

We sat a while longer in silence. Conner turned to me several times as if he wanted to say something, but changed his mind and said nothing. I ignored him to the best of my ability, but after the third time I was extremely curious.

"What is it?" I asked in all my eloquence.

He shook his head, and his face turned slightly red. "It's nothing," he muttered.

I shrugged, trying futilely to hide my curiosity. It most certainly _wasn't_ nothing; I knew that much because of his saying that it _was._ Now I just wanted to know _why_ he'd bothered to lie.

Conner continued to hold his silence, the redness on his cheeks not fading.

I sighed. It was times like this that I wished I didn't have my extra ability. Curiosity killed the mutant freak.

I locked my gaze was fixed on a leaf on the branch below me. It quivered ever so slightly in the barely existent breeze. Conner laughed quietly. "You're funny, Aspen."

I looked at him inquiringly. "How so?"

"I don't know... but right now, how you're trying so hard to act like you don't care what I was going to say," he explained. "I'm afraid that you're not a very good actress. No offense."

I smiled. If he had any idea how much my life had always depended on my being a good actress... how it did now.

"To be honest, I'm not so curious about what you were going to say. It was more to do with _why_ you wouldn't tell me," I confessed.

"I was... embarrassed." Conner turned slightly redder.

"Embarrassed?" Of course, that made me only the more curious.

Conner glanced over to where Robin had disappeared earlier. I looked, too, but still couldn't see her.

"I heard last night," he said. "When Robin was talking to you." His face was the brightest red I'd ever seen.

"Oh." I felt my own face heating up, with the awkward turn the conversation had taken.

Conner was quiet for a while. I let him hather his thoughts before he continued.

He sighed. "She's always been delusional. I knew she thought herself to be in love with me, but..." He shook his head.

He looked out toward the bright blue sky. "She's a great friend. She's like a sister to me... but I can't see her as anything otherwise. I don't know what to do."

I longed to say something, but could think of nothing that would help him. I reached out and put my hand reassuringly on his shoulder. He noticed my awkwardness, and returned my reassuring smile. "You're not used to this kind of stuff, are you?"

I shook my head. "I've never really even talked to anyone that didn't hate me before." I still hadn't.

Conner started, bringing my attention back to my surroundings. I followed his gaze to the sky where I saw Robin flying back to us. She landed on the branch opposite the one we sat on, holding a black garbage sack. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Where did you go?" asked Conner.

"There were some campers down there," she said, gesturing to the area we'd seen her disappear to. "I waited for them to go on a hike, then I made it look like a bear came and ransacked their camp." She grinned and lifted her sack.

Conner's blue eyes brightened. "Is that..."

"Full to bursting with marshmallows, hot dogs, and other edible commodities," she finished for him. Conner cheered.

"Shhh... they should be getting back from their hike any moment now." A woman's shriek announced the discovery of Robin's craftsmanship.

Robin laughed. "C'mon, we can't very well cook hot dogs in a tree. Let's get out of here." She leapt out of the tree, flying away from the continued screamings from the campground.

"Umm... do you want me to carry you again?" Conner asked me.

I shook my head. "No, I think I'm okay now." I spread my wings experimentally. It still hurt, but I thought it would be okay. One good thing about being a mutant freak; healing even from the worst injuries took next to no time whatsoever.

I jumped out of the tree, glad to be able to fly on my own again. Conner followed close behind me.

A booming "Hey, Marcy, where are the hot dogs?!" sent us into torrents of laughter.

Robin waited ahead of us, and we followed her. Robin's bag looked heavy, I noted. She didn't look at all upset by the added weight of her load.

"I think I found them, Marcy," muttered Conner. I giggled.


	15. Chapter fifteen: BBQ

Umm... I'm back! Yeah, I know it's been a while... I've been suffering from internet deprivation disorder. Haha. _Any_way, I still need votes for my new pen name... PLEASE go to my profile and pick one that sounds good! I don't do very well with the whole decision-making thing.

So, things haven't really changed. I still don't own Maximum Ride, and I still _do_ own Aspen. And I still have a spork to threaten you with.

-Deji

* * *

Chapter fifteen: BBQ

"Hey, Robin," Conner called out after we'd been following her for about twenty minutes. "Where are we going?"

"Umm... I don't exactly know where. Somewhere we can start a fire without getting seen, you know? I was thinking like a... I don't know, to be honest." She admitted, looking back at us over her shoulder. She smiled apologetically.

"So, like a cave?" I asked.

Conner and Robin both laughed. I flushed red, half growling under my breath. How was I being funny? It made perfect sense to _me._

"Do you see anywhere there's even a possibility of there being a cave? There aren't any mountains or piles of rocks nearby," snickered Robin.

I went redder and growled to myself. I'd never felt like such an idiot… it wasn't hard to feel smart when the only people you're around have the IQ of a rusty doorknob, and have a tendency to drool on themselves.

I tried to retain my composure and looked back up at those flying next to me. Conner was staring at me with an expression of shock.

"What?" I asked abruptly. I was a little put out and impatient with him already.

"Did you just… growl?" He tried to read my expression. I hoped he didn't notice the color fade from it.

"What… growl? Like an animal? Me?" I asked, pretending to stifle a chuckle. "I'm so flattered," I said sarcastically. Sarcasm was easy to fake, at least.

Conner smiled. "Yeah, I thought I must have imagined it." I nodded in agreement, relieved to have slipped through that situation so easily. I'd have to be more careful in the future. Note to self; no Eraser noises. Growling and snarling were not normal in bird kids.

Robin looked around. "There's no sign of Erasers anywhere," she noted. "And people camp around here all the time. I don't think we really need to hide that we have a campfire."

Conner nodded. "Good point. I'm sick of hiding, anyway."

They dove into a clearing below. I followed, still feeling like an idiot.



The clearing was actually a campground, with a picnic table and a fire pit. Robin put the huge trash bag on the table and my stomach growled painfully. I realized that I hadn't eaten since I left the Institute. I shuddered at the recollection of my last would-have-been meal; my mutated oatmeal attempt.

"Hey, help me find some firewood," Conner called back, to nobody in particular.

Robin looked busy sorting through her hoard, so I walked over into the trees toward him.

I started picking up twigs and stuff, disappointed in the lack of anything bigger. We worked in silence for a while until we had a healthy-looking amount of wood. I carried my portion of the wood back to the campsite and set it by the fire pit.

Conner dumped his whole stack right into the fire pit, and then pushed mine in, too. "What are you doing?" I asked him. "That's way too much wood for a cooking fire."

Conner laughed at me again. "Cooking fire? What do you know about cooking? And what fun is a little fire, anyway?" Robin walked up, smirking.

I should just stop talking.

Robin lit the massive pile of sticks with some matches that she had… borrowed from the other camp. The flames leapt up, anxiously climbing up as high as they could reach, groping for the cloudless sky. Smoke streamed from the fire like a ghostly banner. Conner was right; big fires rocked.

My stomach growled again. Conner smiled, almost laughing. I tightened my fists, reminding myself that going Eraser and tearing him to shreds wouldn't be a good idea. Even if I wasn't outnumbered, I knew from experience that he put up a good fight. I rubbed my wing; it was still really sore.

Robin came back to where we were. I hadn't noticed her get up. She handed Conner a stick with a hot dog on it, then turned to me and handed me one. Her face looked threatening, like she wanted to hit me with it.

"Umm… thanks," I said, carefully taking the offered meat product.

Robin's glower reluctantly disappeared, and she laughed at my awkward acceptance of the hot dog. "Aspen, you're like, I don't know. You're weird."

I glared at the hot dog, willing myself not to throw it at her.

Robin laughed again. "Dude, I'm not trying to insult you. You're just… not like any other experiment I've ever met. It's like you… don't know how to act around anybody."

This time I laughed. "You don't know how right you are," I told her, carefully mimicking the way she held her hot dog by the flames.

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning her hot dog.

I copied her. "Well, it's like I was telling Conner earlier. I've never even talked to someone who didn't hate me first."

"How is that possible? Why would they hate you before even talking to you?"

My expression darkened. "Because I was different," I replied.



"Different? How are you dif-?"

"AAH!" My hot dog had burst into flames while I was distracted. I dropped it with surprise. Robin, having forgotten the conversation we'd been having, laughed and picked it up for me. Conner laughed too, pulling his own perfectly cooked one away from the fire.

I realized that their laughter wasn't cruel and demeaning, like that of the Erasers. They were just… laughing. I laughed, too. My cooking was hopeless.

"Umm… do you still want this?" Robin asked, handing me the blackened hot dog.

"Yeah, I'm starved." I took the hot dog and put it on a bun. It left black marks on the bun wherever they made contact.

Conner handed me a bottle of ketchup. "You might want this," he added.

I smiled. "Yeah." I squeezed the bottle, dumping vast amounts of Heinz onto an example of my expert cooking. It looked almost edible.

Conner laughed. He put a normal amount of ketchup on his unblackened hot dog. I laughed at the difference.

Conner smiled at me, and I dropped my hot dog again. I picked it up and sighed. "I'd better eat this before… I can do anything else to it."

He laughed again. "Aren't girls supposed to have like a culinary instinct or something?" he asked.

I laughed, too. "I guess I'm just a failure as a girl, aren't I?"

I ate my hot dog… or what was left of it. It wasn't too bad, just a little crunchier than usually considered acceptable in a hot dog. And the dirt made the ketchup a little gritty. But it wasn't wiggling, so I didn't complain.

We spent the day eating various things roasted over the fire. Conner and Robin both offered to roast marshmallows and hot dogs for me. I consented, deciding that the "try and try again" rule only applied when there wasn't a substantial risk of food poisoning.

As it got darker, the fire burned itself out. Stars shone cheerfully above, without a cloud to be seen.

Conner yawned. "Robin, you're keeping watch first tonight, right?"

Robin nodded. "Sure. I'll get you up when I'm done."

Conner yawned again. "Alright, whatever."

"No, I'll do it. You're exhausted," I offered.

Conner shook his head. "No, I'm fine… I'm just…" he was interrupted by another yawn.

"Actually, she's right, Conner. You need some sleep. Don't want you dropping out of the sky tomorrow," she added.

Conner scowled. "Fine."

He went and lay down on the ground. "We left the blankets, didn't we?"

Robin sighed. "Yeah. Stupid Erasers."

I found a spot on the ground that didn't look like it had too many rocks. I lay down and tried to fall asleep. The ground was really hard. I rolled around, trying to get comfortable. I looked up at the sky, in awe of all the stars. I'd never been able to see them so well before; the lights at the Institute kind of drowned them out.

…The Institute. I wondered if I would ever go back. I wasn't sure if I wanted to anymore. It was so much better, here with Conner and Robin.

My eyes drooped. I'd just think about it later.

Alright, so you can probably guess what I'm saying here. I'd like some reviews, por favor. And I need some more people to vote on my pen name; I've got three options with two votes each... so yeah. And I've written out the basic plan for the story, and there'll be like 23 chapters. And maybe a sequel. Because I love Aspen.

-Deji


	16. Chapter sixteen: Lookout

I own this story and its contents. I don't own Maximum Ride, because if I did, I'd be writing something that could eventually be published.

-Deji

* * *

Chapter sixteen: Lookout

We closed in on it… the other Erasers' excitement increased. I rushed forward. It screamed and took to the air. I followed it, forgetting the rest of them. This one was mine. Its fear tumbled off of it, and it tried to get away. I grabbed its foot and went into a steep dive, dragging it with me. I slammed my prey to the ground. Dazed, it tried to get back up again. I lunged for the kill, going for the throat. It dodged, and my fangs sunk into its shoulder. Its warm blood filled my mouth and I heard the bone crunch. It yelled out in pain. I snarled, angry that I'd missed. I raised my clawed hand and tore through its helpless throat. Its face rolled to look up at me, and its once-beautiful blue eyes stared emptily at me. I screamed as the ground was soaked in Conner's blood.

I bolted upright, covered in a cold sweat. I glanced, panicked, to where Conner still slept. The dirt around him was not wet, and I could see his body rise and fall with his relaxed breathing. Of course, I'd only dreamt his death. I hadn't actually killed him, I reassured myself.

The dream had been exactly like any other dream I'd ever had. Almost every night, I had seen myself tearing a mutant to shreds. It hadn't ever bothered me before now… it hadn't been anyone I knew before now.

I sat on the ground, hugging my knees to my chest. I couldn't get the vision of his eyes staring up at me, frozen in empty fear. I still felt his warm blood in my mouth, his shoulder crunching in my grip. I shuddered, knowing that this was exactly what I'd intended when I first found him.

"Aspen… are you okay?" Robin put her arm around me.

I nodded, not feeling like I was up to talking yet. Something wet fell onto my hand, and I realized I was crying. I'd never been so scared in my life.

We sat quietly, waiting for me to regain control of myself. Eventually I stopped shaking, and the tears dried on my cheeks.

"I heard you scream," Robin whispered, her voice filled with concern. "What happened?"

I hesitated. If I told her about my dream, she would know what I was. "I… saw Conner get ripped to shreds by an Eraser," I whispered, not mentioning who the Eraser was.

She stiffened when I mentioned Conner, but didn't say anything. She sighed. "You should probably get back to sleep."

I was shaking my head before she finished. "I can't sleep now," I said. "Anyway, I'm ready to take my turn on watch."

Robin nodded. "Okay. That tree over there makes a good lookout point," she pointed to a tall evergreen. She chuckled.

"What?" I asked. It didn't bother me anymore that she might have been laughing at me.

She smiled at me. "Just the idea of an Aspen in a lodgepole pine," she laughed again. I laughed too; it was pretty funny. I imagined I would be getting a lot of that sort of thing.

Robin stood up, motioning me to follow. We flew to a high, sturdy bough of the tree. I sat down, looking again at the stars. Again, I realized that everyone got it wrong. They didn't sparkle, or shine really, either. Sequins sparkled. The lights in operating rooms shone. Stars… they looked like they were reflecting off of something bright. I nodded, content with my description, even if it was inadequate.

"I'm sorry." Robin's whispered apology broke the silence. I'd forgotten that she was there.

I turned to look at her with confusion. "For what?" I'd really appreciated her comforting me moments ago.

"For last night… about Conner." She turned red, but didn't look away like Conner did when he was embarrassed. "I guess I… jumped to conclusions. And I didn't really trust you to start with." She smiled at me to let me know that that no longer applied. "But you're… you're pretty cool, Aspen."

I was shocked. She totally trusted me? Already? Wow. That was easier than I had expected. "Um… thanks." I felt myself going red, too. This was all so weird.

She smiled at my awkwardness, and then resumed her lookout. Her gaze skimmed across the horizon. I wondered why she didn't go to sleep. Her turn was over.

"Just want to be here in case you spazz out again, or fall out of the tree, or something," she said, as if she could read my thoughts. …Maybe she could.

"Robin, did you just read my mind or something?" I asked. Okay, so subtlety wasn't my forte.

She chuckled. "No, but you were obviously wondering something along those lines. You're not a very good actress," she added.

I laughed, now, remembering when Conner had told me that very same thing. She smiled, too, never stopping her watch.

Again, I decided that the best way to do this was to copy how she did it. I looked off in the opposite direction; carefully skimming the sky for anything flying that shouldn't do so naturally. Occasionally my gaze would fall on where Conner slept on the ground. He looked so peaceful, sleeping there, untroubled by dreams of hunting down and killing people he cared about. Lucky.

It reminded me of what I'd started thinking about before falling asleep. What was I going to do? I really didn't want to go back to the Institute, now. But it seemed inevitable. Nobody stayed away from the Erasers for long; they had too many tricks.

…But… I knew all the tricks. I knew how the Erasers worked. Maybe we did have a chance. I smiled. This meant I might never have to see a single wall of the Institute for the rest of my life. I would never have to go in there again. I had to remind myself not to whoop for joy.

Nonetheless, Robin noticed my sudden lift in spirits. "What?" she asked, knowing I would understand what she meant.

"It's just… I don't have to go back. Maybe they won't catch me." I was grinning wider than I'd ever had a reason to in my life. "I can…" My grin faltered. I'd almost said, "I can stay with you guys." But I knew that was impossible. They weren't stupid; they'd find out what I was sooner or later. And it was only a matter of time before I got angry and that night's nightmare became a reality.

Robin saw my quickly vanishing smile. "What? …Oh, you thought that we wouldn't let you stay with us, didn't you?" How did she do that? "We're not letting you get away from us that easily, Aspen," she told me. She beamed at me. "I really like you, Aspen. I'm not letting you go out and face those Erasers alone."

I gaped at her. Not only did she like me, she didn't want me to leave. I'd gone from having everyone hate me, to having two not-Reuben people like me in a matter of days. I didn't know what to say. "Umm… thanks."

Robin shook her head. "Wow, Aspen. You're totally clueless. I thought, at first, that your whole 'nobody liked me' deal was just an alibi. But you're just…" She laughed.

I laughed quietly, continuing my relentless scan of the horizon. "Well, there was one… person that liked me, I guess," I said. "But Reuben was so… creepy. He's been hitting on me for like, three years." I shuddered.

Robin laughed, but then she fell silent. "But, I thought you were kept completely alone…?"

Oops. I'd forgotten that part of my story. How did I cover this one up…? My mind drew a complete blank. Would a little bit more truth really hurt?

"He was an… Eraser."

Robin shuddered. "Ew."

I laughed. "Yeah, I know. I've been dropping I-despise-you hints for about two years and 364 days." Robin laughed.

We fell into amiable silence for the next couple of hours and just watched for danger. I thought with amazement about having a… friend. I had a friend. That was so weird. That was the last thing I'd expected upon leaving the Institute. I grinned, glad that everything had gone totally wrong.

* * *

Review, please! I'm not updating until I have 50-plus reviews, and this next chapter is the one I've been most anxious to write. So it'll be really good, I promise!

-Deji

PS- If you haven't voted on my pen name, please do so by the 16th. That is when I'm changing it, even if it's tied.


	17. Chapter seventeen: Wrong

Okay, here's your chapter. I _was_ going to wait a few more days before posting it, but was told if I didn't post it by tomorrow I'd get hurt with a dangerous gun.

Still don't own Maximum Ride. Still own Aspen. Still have spork of doom.

-Deji

* * *

Chapter seventeen: Wrong

The sun rose, brightening the sky with pinks and oranges. Robin flew down to where Conner still slept, and I followed. I noticed that my wing no longer hurt. I landed and examined it. My wing was perfectly straight, as if nothing had ever happened. I felt a wave of gratitude toward Conner for straightening it for me. Strangely, I didn't blame him for breaking it to start with. I wondered why that was. I guess I deserved it.

Robin was building another fire, but smaller this time. "Can I help?" I asked.

She rummaged through her trash bag. "Um…" she pulled out a huge package of sausages. "I don't know, Aspen. You're…" she hesitated.

I laughed. "Culinary retarded?" I suggested.

Robin laughed, too. "Yeah, that works," she agreed.

While she cooked the sausage and some eggs that I was surprised hadn't been smashed in her crowded trash bag, I wandered around, looking for something to do. "Why don't you wake Conner up?" she called over her shoulder. "He will be most displeased if we eat breakfast without him," she noted.

Laughing, I went and sat by where he was lying. I shook his shoulder gently, like they did in the movies. I didn't really know the normal procedure for waking someone up; it had always been an annoying buzzing sound for me.

My hesitant touch wasn't even causing him to stir. I shook him a little harder. Conner mumbled something and flipped over in his sleep, facing away from me. I walked around to his other side and gave him a rough shove. He looked like he was smiling in his sleep. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying not to laugh at me. "Wake up," I pleaded, feeling like an idiot.

He mumbled something again, still asleep. Frustrated, I grabbed both shoulders and pulled him into a sitting position. "WAKE UP!!" I shouted into his face.

Conner started, opening his eyes. He looked really surprised, and confused. I couldn't help but laugh at his expression. He laughed, too, not pulling away from where I still held his shoulders. "Good morning to you, too," he said.

He was staring at me again, like the time that Robin told me to distract him in the wood shed. I shuddered, remembering from the night before the sight of those eyes, empty and unseeing. I felt the pricking of oncoming tears. What was my problem? It was just a dream!

Conner's thoughtful stare changed abruptly into an almost panicked concern. "Aspen, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

I shook my head again. "Nothing's wrong," I whispered. "It's just a stupid dream I had last night. That's all." I tried to smile, to show him I was fine.

He pulled me into his arms. "It's okay. Just a dream, right?" He whispered reassuringly into my ear.

Surprised by his sudden embrace, I nodded silently. I didn't pull away from him; it made me feel better about having killed him. Even if I'd only dreamed it.

He held onto me until I'd calmed down. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, pulling away so he could see me.

I wanted to… but I wasn't sure if I should. It was harder for me to be dishonest with him… even to just leave part of the truth out. He looked like he wanted to help me, and I knew telling him would help a lot. I'd just tell him what I told Robin, I decided.

"Well, I saw you get…" I stumbled over the difficult word. "…killed… by m-…an Eraser." I'd almost said "by me." Probably not a good idea.

Conner half-smiled at my disjointed sentence. "Don't worry," he assured me. "I won't let any Erasers get me, okay?" He laughed at his promise. It probably wouldn't be a hard one to keep. I sensed some hesitation, though. I looked at him questioningly. He smiled. "Well, I won't let any normal Erasers get me. I'm not sure if I could hold off that freaky chick one again," he admitted.

I smiled. "I don't think she'll be a problem," I noted quietly. He looked at me, confused, but let it go.

"Breakfast's ready," called Robin, drawing our attention back to our surroundings. I took my hands from where they still rested on his shoulders, and walked to the fire where Robin had a heaping stack of sausages and eggs ready.

We quickly devoured the food, which was the best I'd ever eaten. It was easy to beat the Institute's food, and my own cooking… well, enough said. Robin's frustration with my conversation with Conner was quickly forgotten. She was too busy laughing at how much I enjoyed her food.

"What? All I've ever had was Institute food and… my own cooking." I pretended to gag. Robin laughed, and agreed it must be pretty good in comparison.

After the eggs and sausages were gone, Robin pulled three backpacks out of the bag and transferred the rest of the food into them. We all put one on and took off, deciding it was best not to stay put in one place for too long, with Erasers so nearby.

- - -

After flying all day, we finally landed in a thickly wooded area. We could hear a stream nearby happily gurgling over the pebbles and stones in it. Robin made another fire and made a dozen grilled cheese sandwiches that we ate in the dark. Conner wouldn't let either Robin or I take the first watch, saying that we both needed our sleep. I was to take the second watch again, since Robin had stayed up for both the night before.

I was apprehensive as I lay down on the ground, hoping that the dream wouldn't recur. I fidgeted, too nervous to fall asleep. After about an hour it was pitch black and I could hear Robin snoring softly. I couldn't hear Conner at all. Far away, I heard thunder crash.

I sat up, giving up on sleep. I found Conner sitting on a fallen tree at the edge of our camp. I silently walked over and sat by him.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"No. I… I'm worried about the dream coming back. It was very… vivid." I could still remember the taste of his blood in my mouth. Conner nodded in understanding.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while. My eyes started to droop, so I got up to try to go to sleep again.

Conner looked around, upset that I'd left. "Aspen wait. There's something… I just…" His sentence choked and fell lifeless. I'd never seen him so at lost for words. I looked into his sweet, deep blue eyes. I wanted to comfort him, like he'd comforted me that morning. To hold him in my arms… why?

"Come on," he finally said, pulling me out of my tangled thoughts.

"Where are we going? Should I wake Robin?" I glanced over to where she was sleeping.

"No…" He pulled me by the hand in the opposite direction. "I just… want to… walk. She'll be fine for a few minutes."

I looked down where his hand still held mine. The only ever person to do that was Reuben… yet I didn't pull away from Conner like I did from him. What was wrong with me?

I suddenly realized the answer; I loved Conner.

WHAT?! I couldn't care about him like this! I was a monster, and always would be. Even now I was fighting the instinct to morph and tear out his throat. I had been ever since I'd met him. I should have left him and Robin as soon as I was able to fly on my own again. I couldn't bring myself to leave now… I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave him.

We walked through the silent darkness as the trees grew thicker. It was a cool night, with just a few dark clouds in the sky; where the sky decided to reveal itself, stars glimmered like broken mirrors in candlelight. We walked to nowhere, my mind twisted in thought.

Conner stopped, sitting on a rock. He motioned for me to sit next to him. As I did so, he reached for my hand again. "Aspen, I…" I turned to face him. His expression caught me completely by surprise. He looked excited, confused, but mostly… scared. I felt my own confusion crease my brow. I didn't understand…

His beautiful blue eyes melted me from the inside. It almost hurt. I shouldn't…

"Aspen." His voice was soft and sweet, a breath above a whisper. "This is so much harder to say than I expected," he noted, laughing softly. "I can't think of the right words… I just…" He sighed in frustration. I struggled to find a way to help him. I hated seeing him look so lost. He looked up again, and his face was full of determination.

His expression softened as he looked down at me. I'd never noticed that he was taller than me.

Conner stood up, pulling me with him. He took my other hand, so he was holding both of mine in his. I looked up into his blue eyes, to find them directed towards my red-gold ones. He stared again, but I didn't feel at all awkward under his gaze. We stood like that for… I don't know how long. It could have been decades, or only moments.

"Aspen." His eyes didn't leave mine.

"Yes?"

"I… I love you."

He didn't ramble on like in the movies, saying all kinds of ridiculous clichés and making promises that couldn't be kept. He didn't need to.

This was all wrong.

"No… you can't…"

His face fell from the radiance of moments before. He nearly grimaced, and his eyes were echoing pools of agony. He turned away.

I couldn't stand that. "No, Conner, it's not… I just…" He was right. It was hard.

He looked up again.

"Conner, I love you. But you shouldn't love me. Nobody should. I'm not…"

Conner laughed at me, but this time it was soft and sweet. I didn't feel even slightly angry or embarrassed.

"Aspen, whether I should or not has nothing to do with it. It's not… I can't stop it now. If you were a monster, I'd still love you." He smiled at the ridiculous idea of my being anything than what I'd led him to believe me to be.

The laugh in his eyes disappeared when he saw the pained frustration in my face. "Conner, I am a monster! I've hurt so many…" I was finding it a bit difficult to word an idea comprehensively with his eyes so intent on mine. He was so close… it would be so easy to tear him to shreds right now… but… I HAD to tell him. "Conner, I'm an… Er-"

Conner's lips on mine stopped the flow of confused words. When we pulled apart, I'd forgotten what I'd been saying. It didn't matter.

I blushed and looked away, but didn't pull my hands from his. The moon's position right above us surprised me. "Umm… we should go back. …Robin will be awake soon…"

Conner released my left hand and started back to the camp with my right hand his willing captive.

I reluctantly slipped my hand from his as we approached the small clearing. I thought I saw Robin glaring at me, but a second glance assured me that she was fast asleep. Just to be sure, I crept up to her and listened to her soft snoring, exactly as when we'd left.

"I'll… keep watch now," I offered. I needed to think through… everything.

Conner smiled. "'Kay," he whispered. He went and lay down on the dirt. A few moments brought the sound of his even, slow breathing. I looked back and saw that he was smiling in his sleep again. I grinned, too, and assumed my job as lookout, blushing.

I realized what was really happening with a start. No, I told myself. You should leave right now. Before you cause any more trouble. I shied away from the idea of leaving. But… that would hurt him more, wouldn't it? …No, getting his throat ripped out would hurt him more. He would be better off without me. If he had any idea what I was, he'd chase me off himself. …No, he said that he would love me even if I were a monster… And he meant it. He wasn't lying. None of it was a lie. …But he didn't know that he'd hit right on the truth…

My thoughts continued in answerless circles. Thunder sounded again, closer this time, and the rain soon followed. The water felt cool on my arms and face, but did absolutely nothing to clear my thoughts.

The sudden appearance of the rainclouds made the approach of dawn indiscernible. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the storm had no effect on the sleep of my companions. …my friends.

I sighed when my gaze landed on Robin, after having lingered on Conner. She'll be so pissed at me, I thought, remembering my first conversation with her. The one where she told me to back off and leave Conner alone.

I shook my head, turning to look back at the cloudy sky. I let the droplets run down my face and hair, and focused entirely on watching for Erasers, not letting any other thoughts enter my head. I'd thought enough for one night.

* * *

Squee! (Wow. I don't really squee very often. I really like that chapter. Lol.) I've written that chapter over and over... this is the version of it I liked best. Tell me if it was good enough, or if I should have rewritten it again. (That means write a review.) Thanks!

-Deji


	18. Chapter eighteen: I Wish

I wrote Aspen, not Maximum Ride. Don't steal my Aspen. It's rude.

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Chapter Eighteen: I Wish

I managed to focus completely on watching for the rest of the night. It wasn't too hard; the lightning was fascinating. Eventually the storm blew over, and the stars returned. I watched them fade as the sky lightened. The sun rose and chased the shadows into themselves. Something stirred behind me, but I didn't move. I knew it was only Robin; her snoring had stopped.

"Sleep well?" I asked.

She took a moment to reply. "Uh-huh," she answered groggily. I turned to smile at her.

"I'm not much of a morning person, either," I said cheerfully, negating what I'd said. "Well, not usually," I amended.

She glowered at me. I looked at her, confused. She huffed and stalked off to wake Conner. Somehow she managed to do it without yelling. I'd have to figure that out sometime.

Conner sat up and yawned. Robin sulked off into the trees, probably to gather wood for a fire.

Conner looked around and saw me. He grinned and walked over to my side. He pressed his lips to my cheek. I felt my face turn red and he laughed. I smiled, too, not able to help myself. I have to tell him. Today, I told myself. I couldn't put it off any longer.

"What's wrong?" Conner asked, noticing my resigned sigh.

I looked up at him, wishing with all my heart that I didn't have to tell him. I wished I wasn't what I was. I wished…

But wishing wasn't going to do anything, I reminded myself. I'd have to make what I had work… unfortunately what I had wasn't going to work under any circumstances. I had to end this before it was too late to end it. This was going to be the worst day of my life.

"Aspen, what's wrong?" repeated Conner. He started looking a little worried.

I sighed again, trying to build up my resolve. "Conner, remember… last night, I started to…" I couldn't do this. A tear slid from my eye. I was going to lose everything. The last couple of days had been the best of my life, and… that was it. Just a few days. Then I was going to be an Eraser again.

Conner held me in his arms again, like he had the morning before. "Conner…"

A loud gasp from across the clearing caught both of us by surprise. We turned around and saw Robin standing there, the wood she had gathered now strewn across the ground by her feet. Her face was blank with shock. I watched with guilt as the shock transformed into pain, and she looked away. Her eyes were wet as she picked the wood from the ground. She slowly moved back to the place where we'd built a fire last night. She built a fire, careful to keep her back to us as she did so. I wanted to go to her, to explain, but I couldn't. What was there to say?

I could feel Conner going through a similar struggle beside me. Eventually he walked over to sit by her by the fire. She didn't look up from the pancakes she was making as he talked to her. I was dying to know what he was saying, but I knew it would be a bad idea to go over there right now. I sat down on the ground at a safe distance, watching them as Conner tried futilely to comfort Robin. He put his hand over her shoulders, but she shrugged him off. He said something to her, his face pleading, but she shook her head. When Conner put his hand on her shoulder again, she pushed him away. "Go away, Conner," she said loudly enough for me to hear. "Just… go."

Conner walked back to me, looking dejected. His eyes were full of pain again, and again I couldn't stand it. I rushed forward and hugged him tightly, trying to squeeze away the hurt. "I'm sorry," I whispered. He knew the apology was meant for Robin, and he didn't answer.

I felt absolutely terrible. I'd hurt her, so soon after she started considering me her friend. She probably wouldn't ever forgive me. I didn't blame her.

After a while, Robin mumbled "Breakfast's ready." She walked into the forest again, not touching the food. I stared after her, wanting to follow her and make her understand. I wanted her to like me again… I wanted my friend back.

Conner and I ate our breakfast in silence. When we were about halfway through, Robin came back, looking more composed. Her eyes were still filled with hurt, but it didn't spill over. She kept her face blank while she ate pancakes with us. She kept her eyes pointedly away from where Conner held my hand.

Our camp was still silent while we got rid of all the evidence that we'd been there. As soon as we were done, Robin took to the air, probably to escape us. We followed, giving her space.

"What have I done?" murmured Conner, directly above me. I shook my head.

"It's not your fault, Conner. It's mine." If I'd just told him what I was…

Surprisingly, he laughed. "Your fault? How are you blaming yourself for this?"

Now was my chance. I probably wouldn't get an opportunity like this again. I took a deep breath. "If I had told you, then this wouldn't have happened," I began. Conner was silent. I guessed that he was confused. I took another deep breath. "Conner, I'm not just a bird kid. I'm…" the tears started coming. Just two more words and he would hate me. I couldn't bring myself to say them. I sobbed.

"Aspen, it's okay. Whatever it is, it can wait, okay? It's fine."

I shook my head. The tears were making it hard to see. "No, I have to tell you now; before it's too late. Before I can't say it…" but I couldn't say it now. Was it too late already? No. I can do this. I just have to say three words. Just three words. Not that hard… I'm. An. Eraser. I can do this. I…

I couldn't do it. I couldn't tell him to hate me. He'd lost Robin because of me; I wasn't going to take myself away, too. Not yet.

Who was I kidding? I wasn't that selfless… I didn't want to lose him. He was the only one left that didn't hate me. He mattered more to me than anything else. I couldn't make him hate me… on purpose. He wasn't stupid. He would figure it out on his own if I didn't tell him. I didn't want that. He'd hate me even more if that was how he found out. I wouldn't be able to stand that.

- - -

We landed, and Robin immediately glared at me. I opened my mouth to apologize, but she interrupted. "I'm going for a walk. You guys go ahead and eat dinner without me. Don't wait up. I'll be back before morning." She slipped into the trees and disappeared. Tears pricked at my eyes. Would she ever forgive me? I doubted it.

Conner made dinner. He wouldn't let me help. "I don't want my tinfoil dinner en flambé," he explained.

I laughed. "Makes sense," I allowed. But I insisted on wrapping the food in foil squares. I didn't want to sit around and do nothing. I scowled jokingly when Conner checked to make sure I'd wrapped them correctly before placing them in the fire to cook.

"What are we going to do about Robin?" I asked as we waited for the dinners to finish. She hadn't left my thoughts since she'd left for her walk. Judging by his sigh, I guessed that Conner's thoughts weren't too far from my own.

He put his arm over my shoulders while we thought about how to answer that question. It was comfortable, sitting by the fire with his arm around me. I leaned my head on his shoulder, watching to make sure that was okay with him.

We sat like that for a long time. Eventually he got up to get the dinners. They smelled really good. I ate mine slowly, staring at the fire. I still couldn't think of anything to do about Robin. Except tell Conner… but I didn't want to do that quite yet. Subconsciously, I knew that it was only going to get harder the longer I waited, but I didn't think about that any more than I had to. To be honest, the idea of telling Conner who had nearly torn his arm off scared me. What if he fought me? I knew I wouldn't fight him back. I wouldn't be able to stand knowing that I'd hurt him again.

Sooner than I expected, the sky turned dark and the fire died down. The embers cast an eerie half-glow on Conner's face. I yawned and his eyes turned to me. "I'll bet you're exhausted."

I nodded. "Yeah, but… I don't want to go to sleep," I told him.

"You're scared of having that dream again." It wasn't a question. I nodded again. He pulled me into his arms. "I'll be right here. I won't let anything happen," he promised.

I put my arms around him in return. I trembled when I felt the bandage wrapped around his left arm. He noticed. "It's nothing, seriously," he assured me. "It's already healing. I'm fine." I shook my head. It was something.

"Let me change your bandage," I insisted.

Conner sighed. "You're just as bad as Robin," he muttered.

I tore a strip off of my black sweatshirt. I hated that sweatshirt anyway. It was just like the Erasers'. Just more beat-up, now. I washed it off, and carefully unwrapped his arm. I remembered Robin telling me to distract him last time.

"So… am I distracting?" I asked him like I had when Robin was bandaging him up.

Conner chuckled, remembering. "Yeah…"

I smiled, but concentrated on what I was doing, not looking up at his face. Even though I wanted so badly to see the grin I knew would be there.

I struggled for something else to say. "Um… how so?" I asked. It was the first thing that popped into my head. I blushed red, regretting it instantly.

"Well… I don't know, exactly," he began. "Just the way you're so… different from everyone I've ever met." I nodded. That made sense. Who else had been madly in love with him, yet struggled not to rip his throat out?

He laughed at my expression. "Your eyes, for example. I've never seen that color before." Yeah, red-gold wasn't really normal, was it? "It's very pretty," he added softly.

I was finished, then, and looked up at him. "Pretty?" I asked. I'd never been told that anything about me was pretty.

He smiled. "Yeah. Pretty." He cupped his hand around my face. His thumb traced my cheekbone. "Very pretty."

I looked down and smiled. I felt myself turn redder. He pulled my face back up to face his. His own eyes were very pretty, too. I liked the dark, deep blue more than anything.

He leaned down and softly touched his lips to mine. I closed my eyes and kissed him back gently.

Conner pulled away after a while. "You need some sleep," he said. "I'll keep the bad dreams away, I promise."

I smiled and leaned on his shoulder again as he pulled me closer. "Good night," he whispered.

_Yes, it is_, I agreed.

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I'm not posting the next chapter until I've got at least 4 more reviews (more than 4 is perfectly fine, I assure you). Because I'm evil and cruel like that. Muahahaha.

BTW, I've finished the last chapter of Aspen, and I'm now brainstorming for the sequel! Not exactly sure why I'm telling you that... just so you know.


	19. Chapter nineteen: Sorry

Guess what I'm writing up here above the horizontal line? Seriously, guess!

Well, actually I was going to tell you that pachycephalosauruses had 10-inch-thick skulls. But I should probably mention that I don't own Maximum Ride, too. And that Aspen is mine. MINE!! ALL MINE!! RAAAWRR!!

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Chapter Nineteen: Sorry

The ground was covered in dew when I woke, but strangely I wasn't cold. It took me a moment to realize that the reason was that I had Conner's sweatshirt tucked around me on the ground. I grimaced, fingering the hole in the left sleeve where I'd torn through it …and his arm.

Jerking myself from that kind of thoughts, I sat up and looked around. I didn't see Conner, but Robin was sitting by the fire cooking bacon. "'Morning," I greeted her groggily, glad to see that she'd come back. I'd been kind of worried that she wouldn't.

She didn't say anything; she just glared at me and the sweatshirt I had around me. I struggled to keep a warm smile on for her, but her icy look killed it. "Umm… can I help?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be, if she decided to give one.

"What, so you can kill me, too?" She grumbled, mostly to herself. I took it as a 'no.'

She violently flipped the bacon over, as if it had run over her brand-new puppy. I kind of felt sorry for the bacon.

"…Smells good," I noted, knowing that it was no good to say so. I was right. Robin was utterly silent. I sighed. "Robin…"

"No, Aspen. Just leave me alone, okay?"

"Just listen to me. I'm sorry… It wasn't… I didn't… I'm sorry." I looked to her pleadingly.

"It wasn't what? Not what it looked like? I'm not stupid. You didn't what? What _didn't_you do?" She looked at me angrily, with tears running down her face. "I considered you a friend, Aspen. I trusted you. You knew what he was to me. How could you do this to me?"

I felt my own tears start to fall. "Robin, I'm sorry. I didn't _want_to fall for him. I didn't _want_to hurt you. It just… happened. I'm so sorry. I want you to forgive me, but I know it's not fair of me to ask that. I'm sorry." My rush of words made the tears fall faster. For both of us.

Robin glared at me. She didn't say anything, but it was unnecessary. I knew what she meant: she was too angry with me to consider any of that. She wasn't going to forgive me. Ever.

"Sorry," I mumbled again. I got up and walked away, trying to stop the tears. I couldn't. I sat down on the grass and let the tears fall. I soon noticed a pair of arms wrapped around me. That made the guilt worse, and I sobbed even harder.

Conner silently held me until I'd finished crying. He didn't ask why I was falling apart. He just held me together. He kissed my tear-dampened cheek, and pulled me into a standing position. I saw Robin by the fire again, and that brought another set of tears for the friend I no longer had. Conner pulled me into a hug again, letting me cry into his shoulder. I reined the tears in more quickly this time, and looked up. Robin was glaring at me… us… again.

She walked towards us, and Conner pulled out of our embrace. I wiped my face on my ragged sweatshirt, drying away the salty tears.

Robin stood in front of us, her anger only barely hiding her agony. She opened her mouth to say something, but shook her head as if she was changing her mind as to what to say. Her tears brimmed over. She started again. "Conner, Aspen, I'm leaving. I… 'Bye. Don't follow me, please. I need to be alone. Maybe I'll come back. I probably won't. Your breakfast is over by the fire," she added. And with that, she took to the air and disappeared from our sight.

Conner made a movement like he wanted to follow, but stopped short. I saw hints of tears in his eyes. He stood and watched the sky where he'd last seen her. I just stood behind him, not knowing what to do. If I told him what I was now, he would go to her and she'd be happy to come back with him, so they could hate me together. I'd be doing everyone a favor. Except myself.

I knew exactly what I could say. _Conner, just follow her. She needs you… and you would be better off without me. I caused all this to start with. You shouldn't love me anyway. I'm an Eraser._He wouldn't believe me, of course, so I would have to show him. Then he'd see me as the monstrous freak that had tried to kill him. I could imagine the play of emotions across his face; the shock, the confusion, the recognition, the anger …and then the hatred. He'd probably punch me, throw me to the ground. He'd hurt me, but I wouldn't fight back. I wouldn't hurt him. Eventually he'd be satisfied that I wasn't going to follow him, and he'd go to find Robin. Then they would live happily ever after. Everyone except the big, bad wolf.

Another tear slid down my face as I prepared to do what I wished with all my heart wasn't necessary. One tear; that was all. The rest would wait until he was gone.

I looked up from where I was staring at the ground, to Conner's face. His cheeks were streaked with tears. My resolve broke under the weight of my need to comfort him. I stepped forward to enclose him in my arms, to protect him from the pain around him. I buried my face in his chest. "It's okay. She'll come back," I lied.

I felt Conner shake his head. "No, she won't. But we'll bring her back."

"Okay. But let's give her some time, first. Give her some space."

"Yeah," Conner agreed. "We should at least give her that much after all this."

He slipped out of my arms and took my hand. We ate the bacon that Robin had made slowly, both of us deep in thought. I should tell him now…

"I'm so glad you're here, Aspen," Conner said, interrupting my thoughts. "I wouldn't know what to do without you here right now."

I fought the urge to point out that my being here was the reason this happened in the first place. Instead, I finished cleaning up the camp in silence until everything was exactly as we had found it.

"Where do we go now?" I asked Conner. What if Robin couldn't find us, wherever she went?

Conner sighed. "I don't know… maybe we should follow Robin. Still give her some space, you know, but so we can find her later." I nodded. It sounded like a good plan to me.

We flew out of the clearing, leaving nothing but our footprints behind. We went in the same general direction that Robin had left in earlier; hopefully we'd end up finding her. I sighed. Just ahead of me, Conner nodded, as if he were agreeing with something I had said.

We flew until it was dark, without stopping for lunch. Neither of us was very hungry. Conner started descending when the sun did. He landed in a tree again. My heart didn't exactly leap with joy at the idea of sleeping in a tree again, and Conner laughed at my expression.

"It's okay, the bark's worse than its bite," he chuckled. I rolled my eyes at his lame joke. I dug through my backpack and pulled out two cans of beef stew. We ate them cold, and then Conner lay down. I carefully draped myself across the branch, wrapping my arms around it. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come. It didn't.

I reopened my eyes to see Conner moving restlessly in dreams. Another option opened up in front of me. What if I just left, without telling him what I was? I could just disappear, and he wouldn't know. He wouldn't hate me. I could leave, just like Robin.

Looking at him, I knew that it wouldn't work. He would follow me and bring me back, just like Robin. There was no easy way out.

I remembered from earlier, my plan of how to tell him. I could wake him up now, and follow exactly what I had imagined. I reached out and touched his shoulder. I shook him gently, not wanting to shove him out of the tree. "Conner," I whispered. "I need to tell you something. It's important." He didn't stir.

I growled, frustrated. I opened my mouth to shout at him, but something moved below us. I froze. I looked down in terror.

Panicked, I punched Conner in the shoulder. He jumped awake, looking like he was going to yell something at me, but cut himself off when he saw my terrified expression. He looked down.

Right below us was a whole camp full of Erasers.

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Sorry this took a while to post... I was at my grandparents' house and their computer was... unwell. (You would be, too, if you had over 170 viruses!)

So, as you may have noticed, I've changed my pen name to Deji and then some. No problems with that, I hope. I'm adding a new poll for the title of the sequel to Aspen to my profile... I can't decide on one. Go ahead and pick one that sounds cool, if you would.

Yay! Keep up the reviews!! At least 3 more befor the next ch... despite the cliffy. Muahahaha.


	20. Chapter twenty: Distraction

Sorry this chapter took forever and a half to get up! I had to rewrite it because it sucked, and school started. Ew. So I had other pressing matters to attend to. (Like Algebra II homework. Blech.)

I am still Deji, in case you were wondering. And I still haven't had a mind swap with Mr. Patterson, so I don't own Maximum Ride. Surprising as that fact may be. And last time I checked, I was the only Deji in existence, so Aspen's mine. Again, I'm sorry to shove something this shocking at you like this, but it must be said.

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Chapter twenty: Distraction

Making a run for it wasn't an option. It was a miracle that they hadn't seen us already. I carefully slid closer to the trunk of our tree, trying to look like a wood deformation instead of a hiding mutant. To my left, Conner made the same action.

We stayed like that all night, listening for the moment when they'd see us. Every growling voice sent a tremor of terror through me. Because if they caught me, they would catch him, too. And then he would know what I was. He would think that I had led him here on purpose. I pulled myself closer to the tree, hoping the sun wouldn't come out today.

This might be my last chance to tell Conner myself. I turned to tell him. He was staring at something with renewed horror.

Confused, I followed his gaze. I let out a terrified gasp. Robin was down there, drugged unconscious and tied to a tree. I turned to look at Conner again. _What do we do?_ I mouthed.

Conner shook his head. _I don't know_, he silently told me. _Something…_

I looked around the camp. It looked like most of the Erasers were sleeping, now. Just one kept watch. I was too far away to tell if I recognized him or not. Carefully, I leaned over to Conner. "It looks like they're all asleep, except for that one," I whispered, gesturing to the one by Robin. "If we wait for him to go somewhere else, then we can go down and grab Robin, and get her out of there."

Conner nodded. "Good plan, but he doesn't look like he's about to go anywhere. And what if he raises an alarm?"

I thought that through. "If I distract him, just out of sight, and slowly lure him away, he'll follow me away while you rescue Robin. He won't call for anyone else, because he wouldn't want to scare me off, or make an idiot of himself if I weren't an experiment or anything."

Conner almost smiled. "Sounds good, but I'll distract him while you rescue Robin."

I was already shaking my head. "I won't be able to carry her as well as you would," I reasoned. _And I know more about tricking Erasers than you_, I mentally added.

Conner sighed. "Fine. Are you sure you'll be okay? You won't get caught?"

I smiled at him. "Do you think I can't outsmart an Eraser? Are you _kidding?"_ He smiled, too.

I couldn't help myself. I leaned over to him and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek before I carefully leapt out of the tree. I looked up and saw Conner's face frozen in a stunned smile.

I grinned back and took a couple steps toward the Eraser. Several twigs snapped under my feet. Perfect. I looked out to where the Eraser stood. He hadn't heard me. I grumbled under my breath. Of course, that would be too easy.

I crept closer, stepping on twigs all the way. His ears didn't prick up. C'mon, stupid! Pay attention! What kind of lookout are you? I was right behind him at this point, just where he wouldn't be able to see me. I coughed, trying to get him to notice me.

Finally his ears pricked up. I stepped back a few yards, staying out of sight. I stepped on a twig. His head whirled to the left. He sniffed. Crap. I hadn't counted on that. If he caught my scent and recognized it, I'd be doomed.

The Eraser turned and looked blindly into the dark forest. I almost gasped. Just my luck; when I chose to distract a lookout, it just had to be Julius. It suddenly became much more important to not get caught. He could totally mutilate me with very little effort. I silently slid deeper into the trees, holding my breath. I watched him step into the shadows, following me. I continued to inch slowly away from him, being carefully silent. _That's it, moron, just follow me…_

Quietly, I picked up a rock. Aiming carefully, I threw it far away from me, to my left. It landed with a rustling sound in a bush, sounding like a bird kid had just walked carelessly through it. Julius's ears jumped up, listening to where the noise had come from. I held my breath. He slunk to where I'd thrown the rock. I hastily gathered up some more pebbles and scrambled up a tree to keep an eye out.

I looked back to where Robin lay, still unconscious. Conner was silently struggling with the knots that held her. I threw another rock, careful not to let Julius see the rock; just hear it. He looked toward the noise for a moment, and then looked around. He knew something was up. I looked again at Conner. He looked frustrated, still pulling futilely at the cords. I had to keep buying him more time. Just how much time I could get him, I wasn't sure.

I looked back to the Eraser, preparing to throw him another rock to follow. He was gone. I panicked, looking around for him. Julius had disappeared.

"Looking for something?" growled a nearby voice, suddenly. I nearly screamed when I saw him directly below me. I dropped the rest of my rocks on his head and took off. He snarled and followed me on foot, his huge body ripping through the undergrowth.

"Conner, we need to get out of here _now!"_ I shouted to him, hoping he would be able to get out with Robin. His face was immediately panicked. The ropes around Robin still weren't any looser.

I glanced at the knots and recognized them as ones that I had learned in the Institute. I recalled that the best way to untie them was cutting the rope. I held back a snarl. I didn't have a knife with me… I fumbled with the rope, tugging without any hope of loosening its grip.

I heard Julius shouting as he continued tearing through the trees. "Crap," I muttered. I glanced around. At this rate, Julius would wake up the whole camp before we could even begin putting up a fight. "Uhh…" My mind scrambled for an idea of what to do. I looked over to Conner. "Can you go make sure he doesn't wake up all the Erasers? I don't care how… just _shut him up!"_ He looked surprised that I wasn't offering to do it myself, but turned around and ran toward the noisy monster rampaging toward us anyway.

I glanced over my shoulder to watch him leave. I waited until he was out of sight before I turned back to Robin, morphing. I clawed at the ropes, but there was no effect. I glared at them for a moment, snarling under my breath. Hopefully Conner wouldn't come back quickly. I dropped my head to bite at them with my sharp teeth. If anyone chanced to come and see me bent over her like this, it would appear that I was chewing on an unconscious Robin.

The rope finally snapped, and I switched back from Eraser to bird kid. I disentangled Robin and threw her over my shoulder. I grunted; she was heavier than I expected. I entered the thick trees, running in the general direction that I'd seen Conner go.

I soon saw him on Julius's back, hands clamping the Eraser's mouth shut. I noted the shattered bits of his earpiece on the ground with satisfaction. Julius clawed at Conner's hands, not noticing my approach.

Conner's eyes met mine, and I gestured to get out of there. He nodded and let go of Julius, using him as a springboard to shoot into the air. I followed, lagging behind under the added weight of Robin. I moved her so that she was sort of hanging beneath me, to make it easier to manoeuvre my wings.

Conner fell back to fly beneath me. "Let me carry her; your wing just healed. It shouldn't be carrying any more than your weight," he reasoned.

I nodded and let Robin fall, and watched as Conner caught her. A sound caught my attention and I looked back.

Behind me, I saw Julius tearing his way out of the upper branches of the trees. I held back a snarl and dove at him. I abruptly snapped out my wings, sending a powerful kick for his face. I grinned with satisfaction as I heard his nose make a sickening noise under my foot. He moaned in pain, his paws on his face.

"See ya, Julie," I said as I gave him another kick in the gut. I rocketed off, leaving him far behind.

I caught up with Conner, who still held Robin. She didn't look like she was going to regain consciousness until morning.

"Nice," Conner praised, referring to the beating I'd just given the beastly Eraser.

"Thanks. I probably enjoyed it more than I should have, though," I admitted. He laughed.

We flew as far as Conner could carry Robin, with the sun rising behind us. We finally stopped in a much safer tree, where, exhausted, I fell asleep.

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Review please! (Insert massive internet group hug here)

PS GAH! Sorry... I accidentally posted chapter 21 earlier instead of this one... oops. I feel like a total moron. I'm super sorry to those of you that already read it and already know what happens. I'll post it (again) later, under the RIGHT title and everything. Sorry!!


	21. Chapter twentyone: Monster

Well, some of you may have already read this... that's because I made a mistake and posted it as chapter 20. Oops. I've fixed chapter 20 now, so you can go ahead and read it now. Sorry!

That's also the reason I've posted this one so soon; I decided that I wouldn't wait for the three reviews like I usually do. But this time I want about five to make up for it!

It'll probably be a while before the next chapter is posted anyway; I'm mucho busy, as I've previously mentioned.

Still don't own Max Ride, and I still own Aspen. The end.

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Chapter 21: Monster

I woke up to a beautiful day. Robin was sitting by Conner on a branch above me, and I clambered up to join them. My fear of trees seemed to be fading, I noticed with satisfaction. I sat on the other side of Conner, watching Robin. Did she still hate me? Or did risking my neck to get her out of an Eraser camp earn back her friendship?

She wasn't smiling at me, but she didn't glare, either. I flashed a grin at her, and she half-smiled back. She looked away again, focusing on a box of dry cereal that she was eating from.

Conner handed me a box, too. "They're magically delicious," he informed me as I tore the box open. I laughed.

I looked at what he was eating. "Silly mutant," I rebuked. "Trix are for kids."

When we were done, we shoved the empty boxes inside each other and then into Conner's backpack. We could use them for a fire tonight, or something.

"So… what happened?" Conner asked Robin after we'd been flying for a while.

Robin was silent for a while. After a few moments, she heaved a sigh. "Well," she began. "I was just stupid, really. I was walking around in the trees, and practically ran into an Eraser. Suddenly they were everywhere, and they all surrounded me. They shot me with a tranquillizer gun, and you guys know as much as I do from that point. What about you guys? How did you find me?"

"We didn't want to lose you," Conner said. "So we kind of… followed you. Sorry. We were going to give you a few days before we made you come back, but…" but we decided that you probably were going to be better off stuck with us than in the Institute, I finished for him mentally.

"Thanks. It was stupid of me to go off by myself." Robin smiled at both of us, a real smile. I was glad she didn't hate me. "Umm… Aspen? I'm sorry. And I really appreciate how you risked being caught like that so I could get away. Thanks." I smiled at her, just as thankful as she was.

We didn't fly very far; Conner was pretty tired. We landed in a big clearing this time, instead of another tree. I was inwardly grateful; I still preferred the ground. Robin lit a fire using some wood and our cereal boxes, and started making lunch. Conner scouted the area for the best lookout point. Again, I was left with nothing to do. I walked around, kicking the dirt. I wondered idly what Julius had told the other Erasers after we got away. He didn't seem like someone that would admit to being beat up by little old me. He was just lucky that he was the leader; anybody else would be severely punished for letting a captive escape.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by Conner's running back through the trees. He looked scared. He pointed back to where he'd run from. "Erasers! Nine of them, coming right here! They must've seen the smoke," he continued. Robin and I exchanged a panicked glance, and she put out the fire.

"Should we run?" I asked, knowing the answer already. Robin looked terrified.

Conner shook his head. "No, they're too close. The best thing to do is to stay here and be ready when they come." Robin's fear hardened into determination. I hid my fear, too, knowing that it would only excite the Erasers more. Conner seemed to be having a hard time hiding his own fear, though. I took his hand.

"What's wrong? You can take a bunch of Erasers," I said.

Conner swallowed. "It's not the Erasers I'm worried about. It's the other… thing." His hand rubbed the now-healed injury I'd given him. "And you. I'm worried about you, Aspen." He pulled me into his arms for a quick embrace. I didn't tell him that he'd just said the same thing twice.

He let go and I quickly ran over the numbers. There were three of us, and nine of them. That left us outnumbered three to one. That wasn't very good considering that there were at least three of the monstrously huge Erasers like Julius. We'd be lucky if any of us escaped.

"Maybe we should try running away… we're faster than any old Eraser," I whispered. I just wanted to get out of there.

Conner shook his head. "They're too close," he said again. "And… I want to get that thing back. It's not getting away this time."

I shuddered. "Conner… what if… uh…" I was too scared to tell him. What would he do? I swallowed. "That thing… um… is…"

"Shh! Let's try not to get caught by surprise, okay?" Robin's eyes were worried, but determined.

The moments ticked slowly and silently by. Maybe they weren't coming…? I looked hopefully up at Conner.

All at once, the silence was ripped to shreds by the sound of attacking Erasers. They dove out of the sky with fangs exposed and clawed hands reaching for our throats. I barely swallowed a scream as one of them barely missed my arm. I spun around and my fist connected with his head. It seemed to have no effect on him, and he glared up at me. He lunged towards me, and I dodged to the right. He missed, but I ran right into the path of another Eraser.

Panicking, I swiftly kicked him in the side. His breath left him with a whoosh, and I hit him again while he was doubled over. Recovering quickly, the Eraser grabbed my wrist and threw me to the ground. He advanced, snarling.

He was knocked aside by a well-placed kick from Robin. I flashed a quick smile of thanks towards her, and she nodded an acknowledgment.

I leapt out of the way of a diving Eraser, my attention back on surviving. I spread my wings, preparing to take to the air where I had more of an advantage. Suddenly there was a clawed hand on my wing, and I was thrown to the side. I refolded my wings, protecting them from getting hurt again. I thudded into an Eraser's chest. His hands grabbed my shoulders and spun me to face him. I struggled to get away before he could tear out my throat.

"Aspen? Is that you?" Reuben's eyes were wide with surprise. I was shocked, too. But it only made sense that he should be here; he couldn't still be suffering from my cooking. I was suddenly pulled into a too-tight embrace. "Aspen, I was so worried! I couldn't find you anywhere! And to think that these… that you'd been being held captive! Don't worry, I'll take you back to the Institute; it'll be just fine.

I tried to shove away from the delusional Eraser. He took off into the air with me still in his arms. I couldn't get away… I was just so much weaker than when I was in my Eraser form.

NO! I wanted to scream. I'M NOT GOING BACK! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! I struggled futilely to escape. I had no other option.

I changed into my Eraser form. I felt my face elongate, my teeth turn into fangs.

I snarled and shoved Reuben away from me. I aimed a kick at his face and went into a steep dive. I was about to change back, when I saw Conner staring at me. An Eraser was charging straight at him while he was distracted. I soared past Conner and plowed right into the attacking Eraser. He hit the ground with a thud and a grunt.

When I saw that he wasn't getting back up any time soon, I whirled around. Conner was still standing absolutely still, frozen with shock. I ran toward another Eraser that was trying to take advantage of Conner's distraction. I raised my hand and raked my claws across his face, growling.

I saw Robin fighting two Erasers at once, just beyond where I was. So she hadn't seen me turn into a monster.

I fought off Erasers in a daze. It was over. There was nothing I could do now.

The only thing that made me notice that the Erasers had all gone was that there wasn't anything left to hit. I stood where I was for a moment, trying not to think. I sat on the ground, changing back to my un-Eraser form.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Conner still staring at me. I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. I hid my face in my hands and let them fall. He didn't need to say anything. His face had told me everything. He wasn't angry, but I almost wished he was. I didn't want to see him looking so betrayed. His eyes were empty with shock and grief. I would do anything to fix what I'd done. Anything.

I cried into my hands, knowing that there was nothing I could do. I waited until my tears would run dry, like they always did in books. They didn't end, and neither did my pain. I longed for the arms around me that I knew wouldn't come.

I don't know how long I sat there. The whole time I was surrounded by silence. I wondered if Conner and Robin had already left me. I wasn't sure if I wanted that or not. It would be so hard to look into their eyes, knowing that I'd hurt them. On the other hand, I didn't think I could stand being alone with my guilt.

Eventually, I managed to stop crying. I looked up and saw with vague surprise that it was dark. I noticed that there was a fire lit across the clearing. Two silhouettes sat in front of it, and I could feel their eyes on me. I forced myself to get up and walk up to them. Conner and Robin's eyes followed me to where I sat. I made sure to keep a good amount of space between us; I knew that neither of them would want me anywhere near them. I stared into the fire, not able to meet their gaze.

The silence that stretched on was almost unbearable. "I'm so sorry." My breath was no more than a whisper, but I knew that they had heard me.

When they didn't answer, I looked up. Robin's face was angry. I couldn't see Conner's; it was hidden in shadow. It felt like my heart was being ripped out. "Please… I just…" I didn't know what to say.

Robin got up and walked away. She looked back at me with an expression of deep loathing before disappearing into the shadows. I stared after her and sighed.

My attention went back to Conner. I still didn't know what to say… but I had to say something.

"Conner… I tried to tell you, but…" But what? "But… I… I just couldn't. I'm so sorry."

Conner still didn't look up. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Conner…" I whispered.

He pushed me away. "Leave me alone, Aspen. I can't believe…" He shook his head and looked up. His eyes bored into mine. "You… How could you do this? I… just go away."

"But, Conner… Let me explain…"

"Explain what? I saw enough to explain everything. Seriously. Just go away."

I didn't know what else I could do. I got up and walked away, struggling to hold back the rest of my tears. I lay down on the hard ground, wishing I wouldn't ever have to get up. I felt myself shaking with sobs that I'd been trying to repress.

I gave up trying to stay in control. I let it all out, allowing my misery to swallow me. I embraced the darkness as unconsciousness crept over me.


	22. Chapter twenty two: Eavesdrop

Careful, the following statement is extremely shocking.

I'm still not the creator of Maximum Ride, and surprisingly enough, I'm still the only one that wrote this story.

Sorry to spring something like that on you. I nearly had a heart attack, too, when I wrote it.

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Chapter twenty-two: Eavesdrop

I woke up the next morning and sighed, disappointed. I'd been hoping that I wouldn't have to face the day.

Who was I kidding? It wasn't the day I was afraid of. I didn't want to see Conner and Robin's accusations in their faces. I didn't want to see the pain in their eyes. I didn't want to see the repercussions of what I'd done.

What had I done wrong, though? I didn't do anything. They hated me for what I was. It was understandable. It just meant that there wasn't anything I could do to fix it.

I was shocked to see Conner and Robin still there; I'd expected them to ditch me in the night. I sighed. That would have made things easier… but I didn't want things to be easier. I wanted things to be how they were before. It was stupid of me to want it, but I did. You always want what you know you can't have, even after a million years of trying for it.

They were just putting out the fire; they'd probably just finished eating breakfast. I didn't mind. I didn't want to eat anyway. I watched as they put their backpacks on and got ready to leave.

Robin glared at me pointedly. Were they actually waiting for me? They expected me to stay with them?

I hesitantly pulled the straps over my shoulders, watching her reaction. Conner didn't look back at me. Robin just continued to glare, looking impatient.

My backpack on, I approached them slowly. Robin and Conner leapt into the air, taking off. Neither of them looked back to see if I was following. They were probably secretly hoping that I wouldn't. It wouldn't be the first time I'd disappointed someone.

I flew behind them, keeping a safe distance between me and them. It was a long day. I heard them occasionally say something to each other, but they only looked back at me two or three times throughout our flight.

When the sky was somewhat darker, I saw them descending into a small cluster of trees. I followed, deciding that I would sleep in a separate tree from theirs. They landed gracefully on a strong branch of their tree, making me feel self-conscious of the awkward way I clung to the bough of the tree next to theirs. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a smug smile flit across Robin's face.

Exhausted, I decided to skip dinner, too. I didn't feel like doing anything to ensure my survival at the moment. I wondered idly if I was high enough to cause a fatal injury from a fall from my branch. Maybe if I was lucky I'd tumble out of the tree in the middle of the night. Or maybe a wild animal would come and maul me. I closed my eyes to wait for sleep as thoughts of grizzly bears and mountain lions prowled through my head.

"Is she asleep?" I heard Conner whisper. I assumed he was talking about me.

"Yeah," I heard Robin answer. I could feel her glaring at me again.

"I can't believe it…" Conner's voice choked off. I struggled to hold back my own tears. I was glad that I was facing away from where they were.

"Sure explains a lot, though, doesn't it?" observed Robin. "Like how she was so confused by how you were being all nice and stuff. And remember that time that she growled? I knew I'd heard something. And how she couldn't sit in a tree… it all makes sense now." I heard smugness in her voice. "I told you, when we first found her. I told you we shouldn't trust her, just like that."

"But… she said…" Conner sounded hurt and confused.

"So she lied!" interrupted Robin. "She's an Eraser. Erasers lie. I'd bet everything that she was planning on taking us back to the Institute, and be glorified as the best Eraser ever."

"But why did she fight off the other Erasers, then? Why did she help me rescue you from the camp? It makes no sense…"

"Don't ask me how an Eraser's mind works, Conner. I don't know. Maybe she didn't want to share the glory."

Conner sighed. "I can't believe I was so stupid. I trusted her…"

Robin's voice softened. "I know. I trusted her, too. She tricked us both." I imagined that she had her arm around Conner, trying to comfort him. They were silent for a while. I strained my ears, anxious to hear more.

After a few minutes, Conner sighed again. "What do we do now?" he whispered. I could hear the pain in his voice. I hated myself for being the one who put it there. I bit my lip, willing myself to keep from sobbing. I let a few silent tears slide down my face.

"I don't know," answered Robin. "We could leave her here, and hope she doesn't follow us, or we could keep her with us, and hope she doesn't lead us into a trap." She paused. "Or we could make sure she doesn't cause a problem ever again…"

I struggled to keep up my sleeping façade. It's not easy to pretend to be peacefully sleeping while listening to someone who once was your friend try to determine whether killing you would be a good idea or not. In case you were wondering.

"No." Conner's voice sounded almost angry.

"I know, Conner," said Robin. "I'm sorry. I'm just going over the options."

They were silent again. I waited, anxious to hear what they planned to do with me. I focused on breathing evenly, knowing that they were staring at me as I 'slept.'

"I guess we should keep her with us," began Conner, speaking slowly. "That way we don't risk her coming at us by surprise with reinforcements. We can also keep a close eye on her that way," he added. "So we know what to expect, you know?"

"You've got a good point," admitted Robin. I could tell that she really didn't want to have me anywhere near her. I understood her aversion. In fact, I shared it with her. I wished I had some means of escaping what I was, too. "But," she continued, "I don't want to spend the rest of my life with… her in tow." Her voice twisted in disgust as she referred to me.

Conner moaned quietly in frustration. "I don't know, Robin! I just… I don't know." His voice was resigned and full of pain again. It made me want to roll off the branch and plummet to the ground.

"Whatever," allowed Robin, seeing how the subject affected him. "We'll just deal with it as it comes."

They didn't say anything after that, and I let myself fall asleep only after I heard their easy breathing.

* * *

Three more reviews before the next chapter, por favor! Muchas gracias!


	23. Chapter twenty three: Agreement

I'm not responsible for the wonder that is Maximum Ride. I am, in fact, the one at fault for the existence of Conner, Robin, and Aspen, and their freaky mutant adventures.

* * *

Chapter twenty-three: Agreement

I was abruptly awoken by Robin's scream in the middle of the night. I sat up too quickly, and almost fell out of my tree. I strained my eyes to see what was going on in the pitch blackness. I could barely make out shadows leaping at each other through the trees.

Frustrated, I switched to my Eraser form again. My weak night vision revealed to me the reason for Robin's shriek. There were Erasers everywhere. I snarled. They must have followed us.

I leapt for the closest one. I knocked him easily from the branch where he was perched. I listened with satisfaction as he broke snapped more branches as he fell.

Another Eraser grabbed me around the throat from behind. I snarled, pulling on his forearms. His grip tightened. I couldn't breathe. My claws dug into his arms, but he was unfazed.

I panicked, and went with instinct. I twisted around and bit his right arm. Hard. I heard something crunch. Probably his bone.

The Eraser let go, yowling in pain. Before I could attack him again, I heard a yell.

"Conner," I gasped.

I flew to where I'd heard his yell from. He was struggling against four Erasers at once. And more were joining the fight. I rushed to try and help. I dove to where they surrounded him on the ground.

An Eraser grabbed my arm, and I flung him to the ground. I shoved my way towards Conner. He didn't notice me; he was a little busy. I punched an Eraser that currently was holding onto Conner's wrist. The Eraser didn't let go, but turned to face me, snarling. I swung myself around, and felt my foot connect with his face with a sickening crunching noise. I barked an Eraser laugh and turned to face him again. The Eraser lunged for me, claws reaching for my throat. I stepped aside and pulled my claws down his side as he went past me.

Another Eraser grabbed my wrist and yanked me away before I could attack him again. "Aspen… what was with you this morning?" he asked when I tried to pull away. "C'mon… let's get out of here." He smiled. I snarled. Reuben just didn't get it, did he?

"I'm _not_ going back, Reuben. Not with you… not with _anyone._" I punched him in the gut for emphasis. I hoped it would help me get my point across. With Reuben, "no" was never enough. I ran away, hoping he would find some violence to distract him or something.

Conner yelled again, and I whipped my head towards him in panic. An Eraser had his teeth buried in Conner's shoulder. Fury tore through me. Growling horribly, I ploughed through the other Erasers to the one hurting Conner. Nothing else mattered right now but getting that single Eraser to pay for what he was doing.

I continued to run full tilt at the Eraser. I didn't slow down when I approached; I just attacked him at full speed. I snarled as I ran into him, shoving him to the ground. The Eraser scrambled to his feet, surprised. Conner's blood dripped from his fangs. I screamed and dove at him again. I reached for his throat with my sharp claws. He dodged me, and I ran past him.

I pulled myself to a stop and whipped around to face my opponent again. He stared at me incredulously, taking in the way I shook with anger. I bared my teeth and ran at him again, more careful that he wouldn't dodge me. The Eraser moved to the side again, but I followed him. I leapt at him, reaching for his throat.

I was caught by surprise by another Eraser ploughing into me from the side. I fell to the ground mid-leap. The attacking Eraser landed on my chest, forcing the air out of me in a whoosh. Dazed, I tried to shove him off of me. He was one of the big Erasers; he was much too heavy for me to move him. The Eraser got up and kicked me in the side. I heard my ribs crack. I screamed. I tried to get up to face him, but couldn't. The huge Eraser aimed another kick at me, this time at my face. I turned away, but he still got the side of my head. My vision blurred and I felt dizzy. I scrambled onto my knees, ignoring the pain in my side. I instinctively knew when it was best to run away. That had been quite a while ago.

Before I could complete my escape, I felt Eraser hands grabbing me. I was thrown against a tree before I even could completely register that I had been lifted from the ground. Everything started fading from my sight as unconsciousness crept up on me. I watched the Eraser forget about me almost instantly and join the brawl centered on Conner and a tall Eraser. I saw Conner go limp after being hit on the head by the large Eraser. The Eraser threw Conner over his shoulder and yelled something to the other Erasers, and they all flew away, taking Conner with them. Then everything was black.

- - -

When I came around again, it was bright. I looked up and saw that the sun was almost directly overhead. I was still in a heap under the tree. I tried to get up, and moaned at the pain in my side. My red-brown fur was covered in blood. I wasn't sure how much of it was mine. I un-Erasered, for no particular reason. I looked around, and saw Robin leaning against a tree, directly in front of me. I'd forgotten all about her in the confusion of the fight. I vaguely remembered that it had been her scream that woke me up.

I gritted my teeth and stood up, ignoring how much it hurt. I walked over to where she stood. She looked at me. "What happened last night?" she asked. She looked disgusted by having to ask me.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "You were there… your scream woke me up."

She frowned. "That scream was me falling out of a tree to the ground, where I went completely unconscious."

"Oh. Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?" she asked again, looking like my concern for her had been personally offensive.

I explained everything I'd seen, from when I woke up until I'd seen the Erasers carrying Conner off.

She sighed. "Now what? Who knows where they're taking him now?"

"I know where," I said.

Robin glared at me. "Of _course_ you do. You know everything about what they're going to do to him. You've done it all yourself!"

I shook my head. "No, I haven't. You guys were my first mission. But I _do_ know what the Erasers are going to do, and where they're taking him."

She continued to glare at me. I ignored her.

"Well, I don't know what you're doing, but I'm leaving," I informed her. I spread my wings, ready to take off.

Robin's glare looked slightly confused. "Where?"

I looked at her incredulously. "To rescue Conner, of course," I told her. What else was there left for me to do? I wasn't going to sit around and let her glare at me.

"No, you're not. _I_ am." She glared even harder.

"Why? _I _know all there is to know about Erasers. _I _know where they're taking him. _I _know the best way to rescue him." I met her glare with one of my own. "How do _you_ expect to rescue him without _me?"_

Robin's glare didn't soften, but she knew I was right. I watched her struggle to come up with a valid argument. "Well… you don't think you can get past all of them on your own, do you? And how do I know that you won't just take him… wherever they're taking him after you've 'saved' him?"

I suppressed a snarl. "Then what do _you_ suggest, Robin? Do you think _you_ could take them on your own, either?"

She was silent for a while, deliberating. I knew she had come up with her answer, because her glare hardened and she looked back at me again. "Nothing else would even make me _consider_ this. But since it's for Conner, and it's obviously the _only way…" _she paused, taking a breath. "It seems the _only possible way_ to save Conner is… for us to rescue him… together." She made it sound like a dirty word.

I growled quietly. I didn't like the idea either. Being stuck with Robin and her accusing glares for who knows how long didn't sound like a bucket full of fun to me. Unfortunately, she was right; it was the only way. "Fine." I grumbled.

She glared at me again. "So… where did they take him, Eraser?" she asked.

I didn't answer. I wasn't going to put up with her antagonism. "My name is still Aspen, mutant," I reminded her.

"Fine," she snapped. "Where did they take him, _Aspen?"_

"They took him to their camp last night. Judging by the time, they already took him back to the Institute, using a helicopter that they called in from their camp."

"He's _already_ back at the Institute?" she asked incredulously.

I nodded. "They didn't want to give him time to escape," I told her. "We're lucky they forgot about us, or we'd be there, too." _For once, thank goodness for Erasers' stupidity,_ I thought.

Robin heaved a sigh. "Well, I guess we'd better go now. The sooner, the better, right?" She was talking to herself. I could tell because she wasn't injecting as much hostility into every syllable like she had been for me. She took off, not waiting for me. I caught up with her quickly.

I was going home. I remembered how, several days earlier, I'd been hoping to be able to do just this. Now I was terrified. I had become exactly what I'd been trained to hunt. I knew that gave me something of an advantage, but I was still scared. I felt like I was racing toward my own doom. I probably was. Robin had phrased it well… _"Nothing else could make me _consider _this. But since it's for Conner…"_

I would do it for Conner. I would even let myself get captured, if it would ensure his safe escape. Because despite what he and Robin thought, I still felt the same. I still loved him, and would give everything for him.

I raced into the sky, planning to do just that.

* * *

There you go! That was the last chapter of Aspen! I know I'm probably going to get many angry reviews, PMs, et cetera on the topic, so let me explain something. I _am_ writing a part two. It's more of a continuation than a sequel... it'll just be under a different title.

Thanks to all of you that read/reviewed, my beta Momentarily Infinite (who rocks my socks!), my family who often didn't get a turn on the computer cuz I was hogging it, "Goober" for getting me hooked on fanfiction to start with, and all my other friends who pretended to be interested in the fact I was writing a story about flying mutants. I wouldn't have gotten very far at all otherwise!

Wow, that was cheesy. But I had to give credit where it was due. Still cheesy. Oh, well.

Keep an eye out for part two... I'm not sure what the title will be yet, so check my profile every now and then. I hope to have the first chapter up soon! I'm writing kind of slowly, cuz I have school and everything, so it may be a while.

Thanks again!

-Deji


	24. PART TWO! woot

Alright, I am almost ready to start posting for part 2! Hooray!

The title is going to be (drumroll please)

**Aspen, part 2: Mirror Images**

I'll post eventually, so just keep an eye out!

Thanks everyone!

-Deji

**Update 11/29/08**

The first chapter of part two is up! WOOT!

The title is still **Aspen, part 2: Mirror Images**,

SO GO READ IT!!!!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.net/s/4684452/1/Aspen_Part_2_Mirror_Images


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